Last year, reports surfaced that Apple was finally ready to start making its long-awaited Apple Car.
But exactly how the iPhone maker planned to join the ranks of automakers, like the rest of “Project Titan,” remained shrouded in mystery. The company appeared poised to partner with Korean automaker Hyundai — only for a prospective deal to fall apart within weeks.
This week, reports indicated Apple is once again close to an agreement to make an electric vehicle — but it’s apparently taking a different approach this time.
A report in the Korea Times, according to Cnet, said Apple is planning to work with Korean electronics and appliance giant LG and Canadian auto supplier Magna. Under the partnership, LG would supply an electric powertrain designed in cooperation with Magna, while Magna will produce the actual vehicle.
It remains to be seen whether Apple will actually go through with this near-agreement, but partnering with an auto supplier and battery developer could avoid concerns from established automakers who don’t want to be seen as a de facto contract manufacturer for Apple — something that may have helped scuttle the Hyundai deal.
Additional details about the potential Magna-LG deal were not available, including where the new car could be assembled. Apple reportedly planned to manufacture the vehicle in the U.S. under the since-abandoned Hyundai agreement; Magna is headquartered outside Toronto but has dozens of manufacturing facilities in the U.S. — along with dozens in Canada, Mexico and abroad.
Apple reportedly hopes to begin making its car, complete with “breakthrough” battery technology, in 2024 — 10 years after “Project Titan” first began.