After speculation last week that Nissan was in talks with Apple to create the long-rumoured ‘Apple Car’, the automobile manufacturer has firmly denied any involvement.
The Wall Street Journal reported on February 9th that Nissan had signalled they were open to collaboration with the tech giant after CEO Makoto Uchida was asked at a press conference about their willingness to partner with Apple.
He said, “we need to take new initiatives” and “work with companies that are knowledgeable, with good experience, through partnership and collaboration.”
On Monday however, the Financial Times ran a story that Apple had officially approached Nissan to work on the project, but that the talks were ‘no longer active’. Discussions between the two companies reportedly collapsed when Apple requested Apple-branded vehicles.
Rumours of collaboration coincided with increases in Nissan’s stock.
The ‘Apple Car’ has been linked to a number of manufacturers over the years, but is still yet to come to fruition. Both Hyundai and Kia have recently denied or ended talks with Apple about a potential collaboration.
Despite Apple’s lack of success with partnerships so far, there are rumours that they want to launch their car as early as 2024. Perhaps the next collaboration rumours will see the project finally come to fruition.