LG and Canadian auto supplier Magna International has a joint venture. This joint venture is known as “LG Magna Electronics Powertrain” or simply “LG Magna e-Powertrain”. According to recent reports, Apple and LG Magna e-Powertrain are close to signing an agreement. The American manufacturing giant will cooperate with LG Magna e-Powertrain to produce Apple Cars. This could actually be the first electric car from Apple.
According to internal sources, “LG Magna e-Powertrain is very close to signing a contract with Apple. The company will be responsible for the initial mass production of Apple’s electric vehicles. At present, the details of the contract are still under discussion”.
Furthermore, reports also claim that the initial output of the electric car should not be very large. This is because Apple’s plan is to use its first-generation electric vehicles to assess market demand.
Anonymous sources from the company said “Since LG Group subsidiaries, including LG Display, LG Chem, LG Energy Solution, and LG Innotek, have been included in Apple’s parts supply chain, Apple does not have to worry about any supply chain issues. These LG Affiliated companies have the ability to guarantee production and deliver the parts and components required by Apple cars quickly.”
In this regard, LG did not issue any official comments
After formally abandoning the mobile phone business, LG Electronics has been responding to the growing call of investors, that is, asking it to take out performance from the auto parts-related business. Analysts said that LG’s withdrawal from the smartphone business may increase its profit margins. Thus, it will have more funds to invest in the automobile business.
Since the LG brand is not particularly popular in the global electric vehicle market, it needs a very competitive reference to demonstrate its transformation efforts. From this perspective, LG’s bet on Apple’s electric vehicles is not that bad. According to reports, once these companies reach an agreement, they will determine the relevant details of Apple’s electric car production. We expect to see the first prototype of the Apple Car in early 2024.
Earlier this year, there were reports that Apple was exploring a deal worth about $4 billion with Kia and Hyundai to produce electric cars for them. However, an official confirmation from both companies shows that they are no longer in negotiations with Apple.