Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian on reports of a Hyundai – Apple car, and Elon Musk is the world’s richest list.
Video transcription
ADAM SHAPIRO: Now we get news that Apple and Hyundai might start something new with electric cars. But then Hyundai says, not so fast. Pream Subramanian, save me here. And I hope I never have to drive that 1987 Hyundai again.
PRAS SUBRAMAANS: [LAUGHS] Well, I want to see pictures of that car, Adam. But in any case–
ADAM SHAPIRO: I have photos.
PRAS SUBRAMAANS: You know, interesting bedmates here, right, Adam? Earlier today, a Korean news network reported that Apple was in talks with Hyundai about partnering to make an electric autonomous vehicle. Hyundai actually confirms those conversations, but then says the other way around, you know what? We talk to all kinds of people all the time about possible collaborations and things like that for EVs. No decisions have been made yet.
What’s interesting is that it follows this report a few weeks ago from Bloomberg, Mark Gurman there, and talks about how Apple was actually quite advanced with their car efforts. We have been hearing for many years that they are withdrawing from it. Gurman says that there is a small team of engineers who design drive systems, and body parts, and exterior, interior, something like that.
So you know, we have these conflicting reports, but it seems that Apple is really moving forward. But we will actually see nothing for at least half a decade.
JEN ROGERS: Pras, I have to be honest. When I saw that they might be working with Hyundai, I was a little surprised because you do not necessarily think of Hyundai when you think of cool, new, exciting things. But can this partnership make sense on some levels?
PRAS SUBRAMAANS: You know, I think so. People may ask, you know, what about GM? Or what about a Volkswagen, for example? But you know, Hyundai actually – we do not know much about this, but they are actually a big company in Korea. They are one of the most vertically integrated car manufacturers in the world. They are the largest steelmaker in Korea.
So they make everything, from transmissions to brakes, so they have huge economies of scale that Apple can take advantage of because it’s cheaper to manufacture. They could control the entire production cycle of the car, so it would be a compelling partner for them.
ADAM SHAPIRO: I just need to put a plug for Hyundai here because the Hyundai Excel ’87 I had was an amazing car. And they had earlier noticed some of the cars they made. It was also the Mitsubishi – I forget its name and the Dodge Colt. This is how they got past the import quotas a million years ago. I want to ask you quickly, Elon Musk, now the richest man in the world. He does not appear to be threatened, whether it is an Apple-Hyundai partnership or a VW-Ford electric partnership. Looks like he’s in charge.
PRAS SUBRAMAANS: Yeah, stick with the EVs here, right? I mean, if your shares have risen by 20% in the last five days, by 2020 by 700%. Amid an 11-day streak, it looks like someone who owns 20% of the company is going to make a lot of money. Now the figures show that Musk has a value of about $ 195 billion, which is insane.
The company Tesla is worth nearly $ 800 billion, which is more than the top nine carmakers combined. So I’m not surprised Musk is where he is now. But do you think about it, Tesla had a good year last year, right? 500,000 cars were almost manufactured. Profit in the last four quarters. So my question is, did Elon convert any of that into bitcoin? Has this already happened? Would that have increased its net worth here?