Apple Car’s Decade of Development and ‘Failure’ Detailed in New Report
[[{“value”:”Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett today published an in-depth report examining Apple’s decade-long attempt at creating an electric vehicle. The project was reportedly canceled last week after many challenges and setbacks.
The report provides a variety of details about the project, including Apple having once considered acquiring Tesla to bolster its efforts:But before sketching out its own designs, Apple considered acquiring Tesla. At that point the electric-car maker’s success was far from assured, and its value was less than $30 billion, or a 20th of what it is today. Adrian Perica, Apple’s head of corporate development, held a series of meetings with Elon Musk. But Cook, who’d succeeded Jobs three years earlier, shut the deal down while negotiations were still at an early stage.Apple also considered partnering with or acquiring Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, McLaren, and other automakers, according to the report:Talks with Mercedes-Benz progressed further. For a few months, Apple and the German automaker actively worked on a partnership similar to the Tesla idea, but with a twist. Mercedes would manufacture Apple’s vehicle, while it would also sell its own cars with Apple’s self-driving platform and user interface. Apple eventually pulled out, in part because the early work gave its executives confidence they could build a car on their own, people involved in the failed deal say.More details to follow…
This article, “Apple Car’s Decade of Development and ‘Failure’ Detailed in New Report” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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