Nissan denies discussing autonomous cars with Apple

TOKYO, Feb.15 (Reuters) – Nissan 7201.T said on Monday it was not in talks with Apple AAPL.O, after press reports that the iPhone maker has approached the Japanese automaker in recent months about its autonomous vehicle project.

The Financial Times reported that the two companies had brief discussions that ended due to Nissan’s reluctance to become an assembler of Apple-branded vehicles. The discussions were not brought to the top executives of the two companies, according to the newspaper.

“We are not in discussions with Apple,” said a spokeswoman for Nissan, adding that the automaker was “however, still open to the idea of ​​exploring collaborations and partnerships to accelerate the transformation of the industry”. She did not comment further.

No comment could be obtained immediately from Apple.

The fear of becoming a simple subcontractor of the American technology giant would also have been one of the factors of the failure of the discussions between Apple and the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai 005380.KS.

Reuters reported at the end of December that Apple was making progress in autonomous driving technology and had set itself a goal of producing a car by 2024 that could be fitted with its own electric battery technology.

(Eimi Yamamitsu in Tokyo, Nandakumar D and Kanishka Singh in Bangalore; French version Jean Terzian)

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