The Apple Car is highly rated by possible buyers before it exists

A survey of new car buyers reports that a quarter would "definitely consider" an Apple Car, including more than 50% of the Tesla owners asked.

Apple has officially not even hinted that it is working on an Apple Car, though the torrent of patents and regulatory-required paperwork it has filed mean it's a serious project. It has been rumored to be in the works since 2014, so before the Apple Watch was first released, but now it's expected to come any time from 2024 onwards.

Perhaps especially since Apple did show off its concept for the future of CarPlay — long a key feature for new car buyers — it seems close enough that it's been added to a survey.

The Strategic Vision consultancy reports that for almost three decades it has been surveying new vehicle owners both what cars they would consider, and how they rate the quality of those cars. Each survey includes over 45 cars, including ones not available in the US, and for 2022, it has added the Apple Car to the list.

Strategic Vision's New Vehicle Experience Study reportedly works with over 200,000 new car owners annually.

"Apple is the 3rd highest brand consideration with 26% of customers stating they would 'Definitely Consider' an Apple-branded vehicle in the future," said Alexander Edwards, Strategic Vision president, "just behind Toyota (38%) and Honda (32%), followed by Ford (21%) and Tesla (20%)."

"However, Apple's strength doesn't end here," continued Edwards. "What should be concerning to others is that Apple generates a greater amount of Love than any other automotive company, double that of strong brands like Honda, Toyota,and Tesla."

"For example, over 50% of Tesla owners would 'Definitely Consider' a future Apple vehicle; everyone should be prepared," he said.

Some 34% were more cautious about a vehicle that doesn't exist, choosing to select a "Don't know enough about" option in the survey. However, alongside the 26% of people saying they would definitely consider an Apple Car, 24% gave "I love it" as their Impression of Quality of the car.

"If others don't prepare today for this type of disruption, they may find themselves wondering 'What Happened?', similar to when Tesla entered the market," Christopher Chaney, Strategic Vision senior vice president said. "All the current players in the industry mostly hold their own destiny."

"If they simply stay lulled into spending all their ingenuity chasing electric motors, LED lighting, and flat screens with thousands of apps and every high-tech feature you've never dreamed about," continued Chaney, "Apple may land the moonshot right in their sales backyard."

At least eight years into the development of what's believed to be called Project Titan within Apple, though, there have recently been rumors of management problems.

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38 Comments

22july2013 3725 comments · 11 Years

About 2 years ago

I was already preferring (and eager) to buy an Apple Car back in 2017, and was forced to buy something else instead. At least I got CarPlay. However now I live in a condo where I can't install an electric power station required for an all-electric car, so I wouldn't be able to own an electric vehicle anymore. You pretty much need your own garage to own an electric car, which leaves out roughly half the population (mostly the poorer half.)

crazyexcalibur 35 comments · 3 Years

Apple Car is currently 90% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

netrox 1502 comments · 12 Years

Why are they still betting on Apple Car when we have no evidence of it happening? It seems like it's all centered on CarPlay, not the actual car itself.

mpantone 2245 comments · 18 Years

JP234 said:

That doesn't look like virtually every other EV on the market, with that horrid plastic surfboard where the grille used to live?

What do you want? Steer horns? Pikachu? A mermaid? An oscillating light bar like KITT from Knight Rider? Now that it's 2022, it would have to be a programmable rainbow LED.

It's obvious that this escapes you but that plastic surfboard cover provides better aerodynamics than the grille in gas powered cars. EVs don't really need that grille since there's no internal combustion engine in the front compartment that needs to be cooled via a radiator.

That hump in the middle of the passenger cabin? Not necessary for electric vehicles since there's no drive shaft that needs to turn a rear axle.

I know, I know, it looks weird without an exhaust pipe. Maybe some enterprising company has aftermarket kits that allow consumers to bolt on mock exhaust pipes.

Anything else you need explained about the differences between electric cars and their fossil fuel-powered antecedents?

netrox said:

Why are they still betting on Apple Car when we have no evidence of it happening? It seems like it's all centered on CarPlay, not the actual car itself.

It's a research firm, they make money selling reports. They probably figured they sell more reports if they included Apple as a survey choice.

Over the years there have been various rumors about Apple Car prototypes whether it be Project Titan or something else. There were even rumors of Apple executives meeting with automotive industry people.

We do know from California Department of Vehicle public documents that Apple has operated autonomous driving test vehicles on public streets in the state for many years. Logged mileage and number of vehicles has always been very low compared to others doing similar testing, not enough to lead to the conclusion that they are imminently ready to launch a consumer product.

Years before the Apple Watch was unveiled there were persistent rumors of Apple testing "wearables" on their Cupertino campus. We've seen one but I doubt that'll be it.

One thing we have seen is that today's Apple likes own the hardware. They aren't likely just to license out ApplePlay or some autonomous driving OS. They weren't satisfied running iTunes on Motorola ROKR. By creating iPhone, they own the hardware.