Roger Fingas
Recent negotiations between Apple and BMW weren't connected to developing a car, a BMW spokesman has said, citing discussions between the two parties as part of "regular talks."
German magazine Auto Motor und Sport cited a "high-ranking BMW manager" as saying that Apple had been impressed by BMW's carbon-fiber electric cars, and that the two parties were exploring the possibility of cooperating on a passenger vehicle. But a spokesman who spoke to to Reuters stated that BMW is in "regular talks with companies from the IT and telecommunications sector, including Apple, concerning topics like connected vehicles.
"Developing or building a car is not a topic of these discussions," he adds. An Apple representative refused to comment.
In its report, Motor und Sport also claimed that a new car might be sold in Apple outlets but serviced at BMW dealerships. One issue in the talks, allegedly, was whether Apple would be allowed to develop an OS for BMW's i3 electric, something that would require exposing BMW's proprietary software.
Recent weeks have seen growing rumors that Apple is developing a car, prompting reactions from executives in the auto industry. Even if the company is exploring vehicles, however, the company isn't expected to ship one until at least 2020, and it's unclear exactly what kind of features it might have.
It's been speculated that Apple could go electric or make it a self-driving vehicle, following in the footsteps of Google's research efforts.
One of the things fueling the rumors is the mysterious Apple-owned test vans with sensors similar to those on Google's self-driving car prototypes. It's believed, though, that Apple is simply working on advanced mapping data.
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12 Comments
At least this gives the rumor sites more to focus on than the iPhone 6s. Ming-Chi also doesnt seem to be informed about the car, so again, a plus for variety.
It would be nice to have articles here that have substance. Rumors, on top of Rumors, make for a very uninteresting article. How about some research, before writing and publishing articles. Perhaps site name should be AppleVaporsAbound.
I worry that Apple are going niche for all their new products. Niche with the watch and niche with the electric car.
Just buy them out already. $100B should about do it, and it can be easily done with just the cash sitting abroad. Sell off everything that's not needed for the AppleCar. There'll be plenty of private equity that would happily take those off Apple's hands.
I worry that Apple are going niche for all their new products.
Niche with the watch and niche with the electric car.
iPhone was going to be a niche product too if you remember Steve Job's announced market share ambitions when it was introduced. When you are introducing a totally different way of doing things, you invariably start out as a "niche" product. If it catches on, then the niche grows and becomes a major market segment. MBAir was also a niche product meant for the few people who were willing to sacrifice performance for mobility and what, hey! It's not a niche product anymore.