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Mercedes-Benz Maker Remains Open to 'Different Types' of Collaboration With Apple

Friday August 21, 2015 5:51 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Amid rumors that Apple is working on a top-secret automotive project ranging from its own electric car to a CarPlay-related technology platform for vehicles, Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler AG remains open to "different types" of cooperation with Apple, reports Reuters.

"Many things are conceivable," Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in an interview with quarterly magazine Deutsche Unternehmerboerse published on Friday.

Silicon Valley is becoming increasingly important for automakers as vehicles become more deeply integrated with the latest technologies such as CarPlay and Android Auto, and companies such as Apple and Google could play an even bigger role as self-driving vehicles hit the streets over the next five-plus years.

"Google and Apple want to provide system software for cars and bring this entire ecosystem around Apple and Google into the vehicle," Zetsche said. "That can be interesting for both sides."

Last September, Apple hired former Mercedes-Benz R&D President and CEO Johann Jungwirth, who has over a decade of experience working on connected cars, autonomous driving, testing and regulatory affairs and more. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked at Daimler between October 1997 and September 2014 and is now Director of Mac Systems Engineering at Apple.

Johann-Jungwirth-Apple

Apple Car rumors gained momentum in February when The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has hundreds of employees, including former Tesla, Ford and GM engineers, working on an electric vehicle at a top-secret research lab possibly located in the Sunnyvale area. The rumored project, known internally as "Project Titan," could be under testing at GoMentum Station, a former naval base in the Bay Area.

Related Roundup: Apple Car

Tags: Daimler, Mercedes-Benz

Top Rated Comments

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AngerDanger

48 months ago

I only see this happening if Mercedes can manufacture a car so thin that an adaptor is required to hold passengers, which will also need to be redesigned.

Rating: 16 Votes

2457282

48 months ago

I'll say it again, I don't see Apple putting technology in someone else's product. The last time they did that was Motorola ROKR and we all know how that turned out. Right now I see CarPlay as iTunes on the ROKR.

I owned the ROKR - two actually. But your point is important. Apple first install their software on someone else's hardware and in the process learned about phones. Later they built their own phone. The same could be true here.

CarPlay-related technology platform

This could be their first step into the car business. My sense is that apple isn't like google that likes to make big splashes with half baked ideas. They will get there slowly and methodically and end up with a significantly more polished product in the end. Apple has never been first (except for the original apple computer that was the first commercially successful personal computer), but they have consistently come in and done it better (except for some of their services, like Music, Maps, and iCloud).

Rating: 4 Votes

69Mustang

48 months ago

How about neither? Apple didn't go to Tag and say lets do a Watch together, they did their own. I don't know if BMW manufactures for others but if they do I could see Apple partnering in that way as I don't see Apple doing their own manufacturing.

None of the big automotive companies are single source manufacturers anymore. There is so much platform sharing it's hard to say what's from whom in cars today. BMW and Toyota are partnering on a platform that will become a small hybrid/EV sports coupe for both companies. Different sheet metal but the same architecture. There's no doubt if Apple produces a car it will be based off architecture from current manufacturers and contract assembled, that's if the car is intended for mass production. If the volumes are boutique like Ferrari or Lamborghini, the car could be manufactured anywhere.

Rating: 3 Votes

fallenjt

48 months ago

BMW provided platforms and engines to Wiesmann, Mercedes provides AMG engines to Pagani and will provide engines, platforms and electronics to Aston Martin (has 5% stake in it)

AMG? That's pathetic.

Rating: 3 Votes

dontwalkhand

48 months ago

Owning a Sprinter 2013, I deeply wish Apple stay clear of Mercedes... Mercedes are real unreliable POS. Check Rating on Consumer Reports and other rating source like :http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32332210 REMEMBER JUST AN UNRELIABLE POS!

I can't speak of the Sprinters but my 2003 C240 is going strong at 153,000 miles with nothing but regular oil changes, brakes, and tires. My dad's ML320 had 450,000 on the clock before he got hit head on by a semi truck and survived. I say having it be made by Mercedes would make it very reliable and safe at that.

Unlike the 2002 BMW X5 we had that had nothing but electrical problems.

Rating: 3 Votes

69Mustang

48 months ago

Great. Now instead of a log-in screen on my Mac, there'll be an ignition switch..

Ignition switch? More like... ;) Someone should request that Anger Danger create an image with one of these on the 27" iMac. But make it classy.:cool:

Rating: 3 Votes

spiffers

48 months ago

Apple + Smart. I can see it now. Plastic, rust-free, any-color-you-want exterior panels, with a contrasting, 3-layer-steel Tridion roll cage, a nice CarPlay (iOS In The Car) headunit, and most of all, self-driving ability.

Plus, Apple was reportedly interested in the way more quirky BMW i3...

Furthermore, while the new gas model [from Daimler-Benz] is due this Fall, the Electric Drive and Cabriolet versions are seeing a production run starting next year. Kind of makes you wonder what major changes the electric is undergoing in that extended timeframe.

Apple and Mercedes, both premium brands. Mercedes already has CarPlay, thats a nice start. And they are heavily involved in electric cars. They had shares in Tesla and brought a lot of knowledge to the table in that partnership (as well as seats, levers, knobs, steeringwheel and a lot of other stuff).
Mercedes has a great electric car, the B-class Electric Drive. And its built on the drivetrain by Tesla. At least both B and Smart looks better than the horriffic BMW i3, looks like a pig, and drives like crap.

Rating: 2 Votes

campyguy

48 months ago

Wrong. Lithium is about as common as Chlorine in common salt, and batteries need tiny amounts of it. Nickel, Cobalt, Manganese are the current battery cost drivers.

While you may - or may not - have a point, I've worked with lithium for over 25 years in industrial settings (including Boeing and two transit agencies) - it's often regulated, and more often banned from those workplaces as lithium and its derived components are toxic. I have shut down an entire machine shop more than once when a tube of lithium grease shows up in a work station, and had to follow up with the regulating state agency with more paperwork than I care to mention here.

And, AFAIK, most of the lithium that is mined with the intent of being used for automotive battery products originates in Canada, is shipped to and processed/refined in China, then shipped to destinations around the world (Canada, Japan, US, Mexico, Germany). The "cost effectiveness" comparisons from an environmental impact of a Prius and a Hummer (also now a Chinese-made product) still ring true, given the cost of mining/processing/properly disposing of spent lithium. Yeah, I deal with this stuff, going back about 30 years... No offense intended.

Rating: 2 Votes