BMW’s CEO Harald Krüger thinks an Apple Car modelled on BMW’s electric i3 vehicle would be a “nice idea,” although he’s keeping tight-lipped about the chances of it actually happening.
And when there’s the potential of iPhone money involved, who can blame him?
“There are always rumours in our business, but as you know we are working together with a lot of IT companies like Google, like Apple, to integrate the smartphones into the cars,” Krüger said in an interview with CNBC at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
“But there is nothing more to add at this moment of time because we definitely look into the future development of the BMW group and digitalization of our business is [what] I would call it the top trend of our business.”
According to rumors, Apple previously expressed its interest in using BMW’s i3 carbon fiber body as the basis for an electric Apple Car. Tim Cook is even said to have met with senior managers from the i3 production team during a trip to Leipzig last year. However, negotiations to use the car are reported to have broken off.
Apple’s mysterious “Project Titan” has supposedly got hundreds of employees working on it at present, but it’s unknown how involved BMW might be.
The pressure of keeping any arrangement under wraps might be getting too much for Harald Krüger, though. He fainted on stage during BMW’s press conference at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and subsequently cancelled his appointments and returned home to recover.
Source: CNBC
