In September, reports surfaced that Apple was in talks with car-maker McLaren concerning a possible takeover of the company by Tim Cook and co.
It was also claimed that Apple was considering investing in the British super-car company if a takeover didn’t go ahead, with the New York Times, Bloomberg, and The Financial Times all reporting the news.
Now, a new report from Reuters seems to confirm the talks did indeed take place, but that they largely came to nothing.
Related: Apple Car
McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt confirmed in an interview that McLaren and Apple were in discussions, but he said the talks never resulted in a “definitive proposition”.
“There wasn’t a bid from Apple,” said Flewitt. “They visited. We talked.
The CEO’s comments follow McLaren saying it was “not in discussion with Apple in respect of any potential investment”.
According to a recent Bloomberg report, Apple, which has long been rumoured to be working on a self-driving car, has “drastically scaled back its automotive ambitions.”
The company reportedly cut hundreds of jobs and gave remaining staff a deadline of late next year to “prove the feasibility of the self-driving system”.
Apparently, the firm decided to refocus its efforts on developing an autonomous driving system, rather than manufacturing an actual vehicle of its own.
It could be that this development affected talks between Apple and McLaren, although there’s no way to know for sure.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
