BMW says talks with Apple were not about building a car

BMW has clarified that its talks with tech giant Apple did not involve developing or building a car, denying a German magazine report.

The BMW spokesman said on 5 March: "We are in regular talks with companies from the IT and telecommunications sector, including Apple, concerning topics like connected vehicles. Developing or building a car is not a topic of these discussions."

Pursued by Reuters, an Apple spokesman said the firm did not comment on rumours or speculation.

Auto Motor und Sport reported on 4 March that the two firms were discussing possibilities for cooperating on the development of a passenger car.

Apple was impressed with BMW's carbon-fibre electric cars, the magazine said, citing a "high ranking BMW manager."

The automotive magazine said Apple cars could be sold in Apple stores and serviced at BMW dealerships.

The magazine reported that among the issues that needed to be ironed out was whether BMW will allow Apple to develop an operating system for its i3 model, a move that will require the German carmaker to reveal details of its vehicle software to the iPhone maker.

Bloomberg reported last month that Apple aims to begin producing an electric car as early as 2020. The news agency said Apple's car team already had about 200 people, and that it had been ramping up hiring of experts in technologies for batteries and robotics within the past couple of months.

Meanwhile, a Financial Times report said Apple's rumoured car project, known internally as Titan, was based a few miles away from the company's Cupertino, California headquarters and that a lab for Titan was set up last year, shortly after the new iPhone 6 and Apple Watch were announced.