Friday, September 2, 2022 9:38 am5 Comments

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Consumers are primed to buy an “Apple Car” before one even exists, with the brand ranked higher than Tesla, Lexus, BMW, Audi, and Porsche in a recent new-vehicle consideration survey of 200,000 new-vehicle owners just released by Strategic Vision.

David Welch for Bloomberg News:

For the first time, the consulting firm included Apple among the more than 45 brands it surveyed consumers about. The findings: 26% said they would “definitely consider” buying a set of wheels from the iPhone maker, behind only Toyota and Honda. And 24% ticked the top box (“I love it”) when asked their impression of the quality of the brand, beating all others by a wide margin.

That’s serious brand power and suggests there would be significant appetite for autos alongside all those phones, computers, watches and television boxes.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported Apple is shooting for a fully autonomous electric car and aims to have one ready around 2025. Many companies working on self-driving technology have been unable to deploy robotaxis on the timelines they targeted, and only a handful are offering ride services in select cities. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration keeps having to remind Americans that no vehicle available for purchase today is capable of driving itself (hear that, Tesla owners?)

For the time being, at least, Apple lacks an industrial partner. But one of the companies it knows best — iPhone assembler Foxconn — recently acquired a former General Motors assembly plant in Ohio from struggling startup Lordstown Motors. That factory is big enough to easily make 400,000 vehicles a year.

MacDailyNews Take: Think iPod launching into the PMP market. The nascent EV market is Apple’s for the taking.

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