Rumored for months, a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, as well as a lawsuit filed by battery maker A123 Systems, has all but confirmed that Apple is preparing to enter the electric car market. However, Akerson, who lead GM following its bankruptcy filing, says that would be a poor move on Apple’s part.
“I think somebody is kind of trying to cough up a hairball here,” Akerson told Bloomberg. “If I were an Apple shareholder, I wouldn’t be very happy. I would be highly suspect of the long-term prospect of getting into a low-margin, heavy-manufacturing” business.
Akerson added that cracking the automobile industry is a lot harder than it appears. “A lot of people who don’t ever operate in it don’t understand and have a tendency to underestimate,” he said, referring to the regulatory hurdles required to bring a car to market.
Although Akerson believes Apple should steer clear of building its own car, the former GM executive doesn’t think the company should totally abandon the segment. Akerson sees a bright future for Apple in the in-car electronics business, even admitting that he would have turned GM’s entire infotainment division over to the Cupertino, California-based company.
“I would’ve signed it over” to Apple, he said of his days as GM’s CEO. “I’d have turned over the infotainment and interconnectivity of every GM car.”
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