Continental AG is "interested" in acting as a partner for Apple if the company decides to build some kind of vehicle, Chief Executive Elmar Degenhart said during an earnings call on Thursday.
"Apple has an excellent reputation on information and communication systems and has incredible financial strength," the CEO added, according to Reuters.
Degenhart is skeptical on prospects for battery-powered vehicles, saying Continental's electric-car operations could fail to make cash over the "next 3-4 years."
Still, Continental is on the prowl searching for potential acquisitions, though another major takeover won't take place in coming months, he said during the earnings call.
Now the big question is this: is Apple planning on releasing an electric car or not?
Apple is supposedly pushing for production of an electric vehicle to start as early as 2020, but it still won't confirm any plans officially.
The iPhone-maker's "car team" of 200 people is busy working on the "Titan" project that could be scrapped altogether if executives aren't happy with its progress.
Car companies usually spend five to seven years creating a new car, so the time frame underscores the project's aggressive goals and could start an all-out war with companies like General Motors and Tesla Motors.
The Cupertino-based company posted a record profit of $18 billion during the last quarter and has $178 billion in cash with few avenues to spend it.
Apple is already being sued over the project by electric-car battery maker A123 Systems for poaching top engineers to create a large-scale battery division, according to a court filing. The company has supposedly been poaching engineers with experience in car systems from companies like Tesla and A123 to try learning how to make its own electric vehicle.
It was reported by Auto Motor und Sport that BMW is in talks with Apple, but the German automaker is claiming it had nothing to do with a possibly creating a car together.
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