Apple is rumored to invest 4 trillion won in Kia to sign agreement two weeks later
According to South Korea’s “Dong-A Ilbo”, as part of the electric vehicle production cooperation, Apple will invest 4 trillion won (approximately US$3.6 billion) in Kia Motors. However, the 'Dongya Daily' did not specify the source of the information.
Reported that Apple plans to cooperate with Kia to produce Apple cars at Kia’s plant in Georgia, USA; the two parties may sign an agreement on February 17 and plan to launch Apple cars in 2024. Initial production capacity The target is 100,000 vehicles.
Reports that Apple is considering entering the automotive field have sparked speculation about potential manufacturing partners. People familiar with the matter revealed to Bloomberg that Apple's car research and development work is still in the early stages, and it will take at least five years to launch self-driving electric vehicles, which shows that Apple may not be in a hurry to make a cooperative decision.
On February 3, Kia’s stock price jumped 14%, setting a record since 1997. In response to this news, representatives of Apple and Kia declined to respond.
On the day before, Tianfeng Securities analyst Guo Mingchi predicted in a report to investors that Apple cars will be released in 2025 and that Apple will outsource component manufacturing and assembly to established automakers. In turn, the development time will be significantly shortened and the market will be accelerated. Apple will be positioned as a very high-end model with higher prices and parts costs than ordinary electric vehicles.
In addition, there are reports that Apple may have hired Dr. Manfred Harrer, the person in charge of Porsche chassis development. However, it is still unclear about Harrer's position at Apple. There is no official news about Harrer's resignation. His LinkedIn profile is still at Porsche, but it is said that he has bid farewell to his colleagues at the end of 2020.
