Apple Car to enter production with LG, Magna support, report says
The long-rumored EV from Apple may come to life with help from Magna International and an LG electric powertrain.
Here we are again with another round of Apple Car rumors, folks. According to a report from the Korea Times on Tuesday, the tech giant is close to signing a partnership with South Korea's LG and Canadian manufacturing giant Magna International. The three would work to bring the long-rumored Apple Car to production.
None of the three companies immediately returned a request for comment on the report, but according to the Korean newspaper's sources, Apple will tap LG for an electric powertrain designed with Magna, while the latter handles production of the vehicle. The deal should become public sometime this year.
We've been here before, however. Earlier this year, Apple was reportedly close to working with Hyundai Motor's brands, Hyundai and Kia, to bring the Apple Car to production. However, talks ended without a deal and in February the Korean automaker confirmed it was no longer discussing its involvement with the project. After that, Apple reportedly shopped around other potential partners. That brings us here to LG and Magna. LG has a deep knowledge of EV batteries and powertrains, and Magna would bring production expertise to the Apple project. Building cars is hard, and it's likely not something Apple wants to do under its own corporate umbrella.
The vehicle remains quite the mystery; little tidbits and rumors about the project have surfaced from time to time over the past decade. Notoriously, Project Titan, as the Apple Car effort was known internally, crashed and burned two years ago as the company pivoted to car-related software. At the start of this year, however, rumors again intensified over the company bringing a physical vehicle to production. It will likely include Apple's own software, and potentially sport battery tech that the company believes could be a game changer.
But until Apple's ready to talk, we can only report what we hear and do our best to sniff out the facts. A Magna and LG tie-up, however, does feel more likely than any automaker jumping onboard.
