The joint venture car factory may not get a large number of orders
The long-rumored Apple Car has a new “scandal” foundry party.
According to South Korean media citing sources familiar with the matter, the joint venture “LG Magna e-Powertrain” (LG Magna e-Powertrain) between South Korea’s LG and Canadian auto parts giant Magna International is very close to signing with Apple The first batch of electric vehicle foundry contracts, responsible for the production of Apple’s electric vehicles.
It is reported that the parties are still negotiating the details of the contract. Since Apple mainly intends to use the first generation of electric vehicles to evaluate its market opportunities, the joint venture car factory may not receive a large number of orders. After the agreement is reached, the production details of Apple’s electric car will be further determined, and the prototype is expected to be announced at some point in 2024.
It is worth noting that the joint venture between LG and Magna itself is still in the establishment stage. Prior to this, the two parties planned to invest US$1 billion in a joint venture to build electric motors, inverters and on-board chargers. The deal is scheduled to land in July this year, with LG accounting for 51% of the equity in the joint venture.
Although LG and Magna have no complete vehicle business, both parties have been in the automotive industry chain for a long time. LG previously provided motors, battery packs and other components for Tesla and General Motors’ Bolt EV, while Magna is already producing automotive electronics.
If the contract is reached, Apple will purchase core hardware such as the electric powertrain system designed by Magna from LG, and Magna will be responsible for the initial mass production of the car. The design and software will be led by Apple.
Although there has been no official announcement, speculation about Apple’s car made by the outside world has not ceased. At the beginning of this year, there were reports that Apple was seeking to reach a deal worth about 4 billion U.S. dollars with Kia and Hyundai to produce electric cars for them. But later Hyundai and Kia confirmed that they no longer negotiate with Apple.