Toyota warns Apple about the car business

Toyota says Apple should be prepared for a 40-year investment and to treat consumers fairly if the tech giant’s plans materialise to produce an electric car.

The Japanese car-maker’s global boss, Akio Toyoda, offered up the sage advice this week, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder Kiichiro Toyoda, welcomed Apple’s possible entry into the car business, but said the iPhone manufacturer should be prepared to offer decades’ worth of customer support and choice.

“Anyone can make a car if they have the technical ability, but, once they make a car, I hope they’ll recognise they have to steel themselves for 40 years of responding to customers and to various changes,” Toyoda told a news conference in his capacity as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA).

The WSJ revealed Apple’s plan to revive its electric vehicle concept late last year. The publication said the tech giant was seeking potential automotive partners to begin production as soon as 2024.

Apple hasn’t spoken publicly about its automotive plans. Earlier this year, it was in discussions with Kia and Hyundai on a joint-venture, but that soon ground to a halt.

Toyoda said he had no issue with Apple producing cars, but warned it should be prepared to deal with the issues that arise over the life of a vehicle, including manufacturing, maintenance and recalls, and the eventual scrapping at the end of its life.

“Technology companies entering the car industry means that the car industry has a future and choices for customers will widen,” he 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.’”