Word surfaced earlier this fall that Apple was “in talks” with top executives of the world-renowned car manufacturer McLaren — in the capacity that Cupertino was, at least to some extent, interested in a full buyout of the famed Formula 1-maker. And while that otherwise exciting rumor never gained much traction while it briefly circulated the web a few months ago, an even newer, recently surfaced interview now seeks to clarify exactly what went on between Apple and McLaren executives behind closed doors.
In the exclusive Reuters interview, McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt admitted that while he and top Apple executives had engaged in behind-the-scenes talks — and while, according to Flewitt, his company has already received “a number of buyout bids” — none of those offers, apparently, have originated from Apple’s court.
“They visited, we talked,” Flewitt recounted during the interview. “We talked about what they did. We talked about what we did. They toured. It never matured to a definitive proposition.”
Interestingly, Flewitt’s mumblings appear to conflict quite starkly with previous rumors — some of which suggested that Apple had already “started negotiations” to acquire the luxury car brand for between $1.3 and $2 billion, according to AppleInsider.
Why Apple would even want McLaren’s advanced, super-car production infrastructure remains a lingering question; however, with current rumors of Apple’s ‘Project Titan’ self-driving car initiative going in a bunch of different directions, it’s perhaps reasonable to assume that the Cupertino-company was merely looking for a solid base upon which to build its own luxury brand?
Of course, there have also surfaced a slew of other, more recent rumors, suggesting that Apple won’t actually be building “a car” any longer; but rather, that the Silicon Valley tech-giant will instead continue investing in the development of a quote unquote carOS — the Augmented Reality (AR)-based software component required to power an autonomous, self-driving vehicle.
What Apple’s ultimate plans with ‘Project Titan’ entail may be a bit up-in-the-air right now, but there’s no denying that, should the company have decided on a McLaren buyout to facilitate its self-driving car project, Apple would have gained a true asset. Not only does McLaren produce some of the world’s most advanced, feature-packed ‘super-cars’ — all of which are both made by hand, built-upon the frame of the company’s Formula 1 race car— but McLaren is an internationally-acclaimed brand, headquartered at it’s self-named Production Centre, which located at the McLaren Technology Campus in Woking, Surrey.
McLaren produces fantastic high-end cars and Apple is supposedly working on an undisclosed automotive project — it just seems like the shoe could have easily fit for the two companies. Well, be that as it may, Apple clearly has other self-driving car plans up its sleeves, and that the company is constantly working, just as “behind-the-scenes” as ever before, in an effort to bring those plans to fruition.
Are you looking forward to [finally] knowing what Apple is up to in the garage?
Let us know in the comments!
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