The fact that Apple is working on building and preparing to launch an automobile has the automotive world licking its chops to be the company Apple chooses to partner with. So far no announcement as to which automaker will be partnered with, or that one will be at all, has been announced. While there are certainly going to be plenty of suitors one made their desires known publicly at the Geneva Motor Show.
FCA head Sergio Marchionne proposed his company would be the right choice for Apple to partner with and build its new car. The logic behind this statement is simply that he feels FCA would be able to speak the language of Apple better than other companies and he happens to be an “Apple freak”, which might work well in his favor. Another reason he feels this would work is that FCA would be willing to work on the terms of Apple instead of the other way around. He also feels more automakers would want to put their own language into the terms and not listen to what Apple has to offer and say regarding the build of their vehicle.
While building a vehicle certainly has a complexity to it, being a technology company also has quite a high degree of difficulty as well. When you consider what Apple has to deliver to is many customers every day there is no doubt the company does know what it’s doing with the services and products that are offered under its name. Even if Apple were to partner with an automaker would FCA be the right choice; what would actually be the right choice for this company?
The right partner is going to depend upon the message Apple wants to send. If Apple wants to partner with a company that has consistently had vehicle that performed at or near the bottom for reliability, safety and the number of recalls, FCA is the right choice. It’s not that everything FCA puts out performs badly, it just seems as if there is are more vehicle performing poorly than there should be. Possibly FCA should stop looking for partnerships, like it did when trying to put a marriage together with GM, and focus on making their vehicles more acceptable to a wider audience by paying closer attention to the items customers want like reliability and versatility.
For the most part, the FCA lineup is ok, but might not be what Apple is looking for. What does that mean for Apple building a car? To start with, to offer a car that will be well received and one that can create the sales needed right away a manufacturer that aligns with Apple’s values makes more sense for this aggressive venture. If Apple were to choose a luxury car manufacturer Tesla might make a good choice to partner with, but if a mainstream one is more likely, Hyundai or Toyota could be the right choice to give Apple exactly what it wants in its car.
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