Reed Stevenson & Mark Gurman
BLOOMBERG – At first glance, the forays Apple, Google and other technology giants are making into the world of cars don’t appear to be particularly lucrative.
Building automobiles requires factories, equipment and an army of people to design and assemble large hunks of steel, plastic and glass. That all but guarantees slimmer profits. The world’s top 10 carmakers had an operating margin of just 5.2 per cent in 2020, a fraction of the 34 per cent enjoyed by the tech industry’s leaders, data compiled by
Bloomberg show.
But for Apple and other behemoths that are diving into self-driving tech or have grand plans for their own cars, that push isn’t just about breaking into a new market – it’s about defending valuable turf.