Rumors of a partnership between BMW and Apple have resurfaced, with the latest reports pointing towards a collaboration involving the development of a new car.
Apple CEO Tim Cook and senior executives met with BMW at the German automaker's headquarters last year to tour its Leipzig factory and learn more about how it builds the i3 electric car, two sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters.
One source added that Apple appears to be interested in building its own passenger car, as executives asked BMW board members during the visit about production and showed an interest in licensing parts.
"Apple executives were impressed with the fact that we abandoned traditional approaches to car making and started fresh," a senior BMW source said. "It chimed with the way they do things too."
Little details have been revealed about Apple's car project, but the company's hiring of several automotive experts over the past few months points towards the possibility of the project becoming a reality, Mac Rumors reported. Other reports claim that the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant has hundreds of employees working on the project and has obtained employees from Tesla, Ford and GM, as well as robotics experts, to build the vehicle.
Apple is also rumored to introduce this passenger car to roads by 2020.
There are no definite plans for BMW and Apple to form a partnership, as Harald Krueger, who took over as BMW CEO in May, is currently more focused on the company's own plans than potential deals with other firms, The Verge reported. However, a possibility of a collaboration between the two big companies still exists, with one Reuters source noting that there's a chance that senior executives from both sides will meet once again for more talks.
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