- Apple cars are proving popular with potential owners even before they hit the road.
- Strategic Vision found more buyers would consider a car made by Apple than a Tesla.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook has hinted at making a car for years, but no firm plans have been revealed.
Apple cars appear to already be a more popular option than Tesla even though the iPhone maker has never confirmed plans to produce one.
A survey of 200,000 new-vehicle owners by Strategic Vision placed Apple third in a list for brand consideration, with 26% saying they “love” the Apple brand and would consider buying a car if it made one.
The company ranked behind Toyota and Honda, and ahead of Tesla, Lexus, and BMW in a survey of more than 45 brands.
More than half of Tesla owners would consider buying an Apple car in the future, according to the survey.
Apple also had the highest “quality impression”, with a score of 24% compared to 15% for Toyota and 11% for Tesla. But a further 34% said they didn’t know enough about the car to make a judgement given the lack of information.
“Of course, what Apple ultimately presents in terms of styling, powertrain, product, and other key features will finally determine the level of interest generated among car shoppers,” said Strategic Vision’s Alexander Edwards.
“However, their brand awareness and reputation provide a formidable platform that automotive manufacturers should brace themselves for accordingly.”
Apple hasn’t made any announcement about producing a car, but has long hinted about building one under the codename “Project Titan”.
The idea was first mooted by CEO Tim Cook Bloomberg Interview in 2017, before The New York Times reported that it was shelving plans to focus on driving technology for other car makers.
Last year Cook again talked up Apple’s interest in building autonomous vehicles to The Times last year, while also declaring his admiration for Tesla.
“An autonomous car is a robot and so there are a lot of things you can do with autonomy. We will see what Apple does,” Cook told the Sway podcast.
“We love to integrate hardware, software, and services, and find the intersection points of those because we think that’s where the magic occurs.”
However, Cook admitted that many of the company’s ideas “never see the light of day”.
(curtesy Yahoo news)
