Apple was reportedly in talks with Daimler and BMW to finalize a manufacturing deal for its car, but its efforts have all been in vain, claims German news site Handelsblatt. Reportedly, Apple is looking for a partner to help it in the production of its car as it has no prior experience in vehicle production.
Failed talks reports not new
The report suggest the reason for the talks coming to an end is because the three parties could not reach an agreement on questions like which of them would lead the project and which would own the collected data. It is said that Apple is holding out for deep iCloud integration.
“Apple wants the car to be closely built into its own cloud software, while the German carmakers have made customer data protection a key element of their future strategy. The talks with BMW collapsed last year, while those with Daimler collapsed more recently,” a source told Handelsblatt.
According to the rumors that surfaced last year, Apple was considering using the BMW i3 as the basis for its electric car project, but its talks with BMW ended in a few months with no outcome. However, there are rumors that the two companies might resume the talks at a later date.
It remains to be seen how Apple’s project will be impacted due to the breakdown of talks with Daimler and BMW.
Other Apple car rumors
Apple’s car project is focused on developing an electric car in which self-driving capabilities might or might not be included. Not much is known about the project except that a car appears to be under development, and it is expected that such a vehicle will interface with the iPhone and other Apple services.
The company reportedly has secret manufacturing units located in Sunnyvale, Calif. and Berlin, where hundreds of employees are said to be working on the car. It is said that the iPhone maker aims to complete work on it by 2019 or 2020.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk once remarked that Apple’s electric car project is an “open secret,” and recently, apparently for its Project Titan, Apple hired former Tesla VP and Aston Martin engineer Chris Porritt. The company is also said to be in talks with Magna Steyr. The U.S. firm’s executives reportedly visited Austria to discuss their plans with the company but have not finalized anything as yet. Another recent report suggests that Magna Steyr is very interested in working on Apple’s ambitious Project Titan for the manufacturing of the so-called Apple Car.
