Former GM CEO says Apple is biting off more than it can chew

Dan Akerson, retired chief executive officer of General Motors Co., said Apple Inc. should steer clear of the business of making cars, though a push into automobile electronics would be a better move for the iPhone maker. Apple shares rose to a record on Tuesday after people familiar with the matter last week said the Cupertino, California-based technology company is working to develop its own electric car, rocking the automotive industry. “I think somebody is kind of trying to cough up a hairball here,” Akerson said in a telephone interview. “If I were an Apple shareholder, I wouldn’t be very happy. I would be highly suspect of the long-term prospect of getting into a low-margin, heavy-manufacturing” business. The car industry, with regulatory and safety requirements, is harder than people realize, Akerson said. “A lot of people who don’t ever operate in it don’t understand and have a tendency to underestimate,” he said.