Toyota Chief Says Apple Is Welcome to Make a Car, but…
Akio Toyoda says new entrants should be ready for 40-year commitment to the industry
TOKYO— Toyota TM 0.22% Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda said he welcomed the possible entry of Apple Inc. AAPL -0.91% into the car business but said the iPhone maker should be ready for a decadeslong commitment to its customers.
“Anyone can make a car if they have the technical ability, but, once they make a car, I hope they’ll recognize they have to steel themselves for 40 years of responding to customers and to various changes,” Mr. Toyoda said in a news conference in his capacity as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Apple hasn’t spoken in public about its automotive plans. The Wall Street Journal reported that it began seeking potential automotive partners late last year and was considering whether it could begin production of a vehicle as soon as 2024. Hyundai Motor Co. said in January that it was talking to Apple about cooperation in driverless electric vehicles. The next month it said it wasn’t in talks.
Mr. Toyoda said he had no problem with Apple making cars, but he said car makers have to deal with many issues over the life of a vehicle, starting with obtaining the materials to manufacture it and ending with its scrapping decades later.
“Technology companies entering the car industry means that the car industry has a future and choices for customers will widen,” Mr. Toyoda said. “We welcome new entries, but I don’t think it would be fair for those people who are newly entering to say, ‘We don’t need to steel ourselves for 40 years, and you other folks who have been around for many years, you do that.’”
Apple’s Japan office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Should Apple enter the car market, it could build the vehicles itself or outsource production, as it does with its iPhones. If it chooses outsourcing, Apple and its contractor would have to decide who would be responsible for repairing cars, handling recalls and dealing with safety regulators.
Mr. Toyoda’s comments as head of the Japan industry group suggested that the industry wouldn’t be happy with an arrangement in which an Apple partner bore responsibility for long-term risks. He didn’t say whether anyone in the group was talking to Apple.