Is BMW Building a Car With Apple?

German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, has reported that Apple and BMW are in close talks over building a car together. They say that the companies are interested in developing the BMW i3 as an Apple-designed vehicle. They also say that Apple is developing an operating system for the car and that they plan to sell it through Apple Stores.

BMW, on the other hand, has denied the claims. In a statement to Reuters, they said that they are not working with Apple on developing a car.

“The BMW spokesman said: ‘We are 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.'”

While Apple may not be building a car with BMW, they could certainly be collaborating on the in-car infotainment systems. Apple has CarPlay, a system that integrates with a number of new BMW vehicles. It could be the case that they are working together on a more integrated and taylor-made system, but this is not yet clear.

This rumour is one of many recently that suggest that Apple could be building a car. Credible reports from both The Wall Street Journal and Reuters have said that the company is hard at work on one, but these claims have been disputed by some. It’s been suggested that these rumours are fake, but that they’re being ‘leaked’ intentionally by Apple in an effort to keep investors happy. Others have also said that Apple would be stupid to build a car and that they probably won’t release one.

The same things were said about the iPhone. At the time, many said that Apple wouldn’t possibly want to enter the phone business, thanks to its low margins and tough competition. Considering how wrong those people were, it wouldn’t at all be surprising if Apple really did build a car.

Source: Auto Motor und Sport Via: MacRumors