Daimler CEO Impressed by Silicon Valley’s Progress on Automobile Projects

The CEO of German automotive company Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, may have given a small update on the progress of the long-rumored Apple Car (via Reuters). After visiting with about 70 companies in total on a trip to Silicon Valley, Zetsche told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag [Google Translate] that "these companies can do more and know more" about the automotive process than he previously thought. The CEO never specifically mentioned Apple by name, however.

dieter zetsche daimler

"Our impression was that these companies can do more and know more than we had previously assumed. At the same time they have more respect for our achievements than we thought," Zetsche told the paper.

Zetsche referred to a few "concrete talks" that were had while he visited California, but he of course couldn't specifically refer to the content of any meeting he had while he was there. Apple hired former Mercedes-Benz R&D President and CEO Johann Jungwirth in 2014, which began the initial wave of rumors pointing towards the Cupertino-based company's future entry in the automobile market.

In August, Daimler -- the parent company of Mercedes-Benz -- mentioned that it remains open to "different types" of collaboration with Apple in regards to automotive projects. Some of the recent rumors surrounding the "Apple Car" involve Apple's registering of various auto-related domain names, with a possible launch date of 2019 for the vehicle.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...

Top Rated Comments

_mdavenport Avatar
121 months ago
We know who you really are, Zetsche.



Attachment Image
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
121 months ago
Hot damn, that mustache is absolutely fabulous!
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kobayagi Avatar
121 months ago
There's so much wrong with this post that it's hard to know where to begin. The industry isn't ripe for disruption. What does that even mean anyway? Trying to apply "phone logic" and terminology to the auto industry is a losing proposition. Cars are heavily regulated by multiple government organizations around the world.

Increasing displacement? What? Pretty much all volume car manufacturers are making smaller displacement engines, using turbo charging to combat the loss of displacement power and gain in efficiency. They've also started earnest investment in hybrid/full electric alternatives. But just like Apple being slowed by Intel's component development, the auto industry's alternative propulsion is only going to go as far as the battery tech allows it to go.
[doublepost=1453744958][/doublepost]
I'd say Google more so than Tesla. Especially in the area of autonomous cars. Tesla's pretty much a known entity in the automotive world.
Thanks for that post, I was going to correct all his inaccuracies but I see you already did it. ^^ A big displacement is maybe still a thing with US cars, but most European manufactures are going for smaller, turbocharged engines.

Modern cars are more and more equipped and safer compared to their predecessor but remain the same weight (if not less!) because of the use of lighter materials.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
akb Avatar
121 months ago
Germans have really tarnished the meaning of engineering, almost 100 years of reciprocating engines with horrible thermal efficiency and little progress.
What?

How come the rest of the world isn't putting German engineering to shame, then?

Maybe because it's more difficult than you'd like to believe - for all sorts of economic, scientific and political reasons?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
121 months ago
Auto industry is ripe for 'disruption'. 100 years of little innovation, incremental changes will no real innovation. All they were focused on was tuning suspensions, chassis and adding incremental technologies like BT. They are taking shortcuts like increasing displacements to increase engine power output, as if that is some kind of innovation.

There is no real focus on improving thermal efficiency of engines, still at the most ~30%.

Every new of model year is heavier than the previous model year. How is this innovation? Aluminum chassis has been there for decades, why hasn't that propagated in all the models, especially the so called luxury makes who only focus on top 5mm layer of the car, the sheet metal and interior materials. They charge more for the same car with slight suspension modifications, but won't really innovate. For example they could start by making the car lighter than previous model year.

Germans have really tarnished the meaning of engineering, almost 100 years of reciprocating engines with horrible thermal efficiency and little progress.
There's so much wrong with this post that it's hard to know where to begin. The industry isn't ripe for disruption. What does that even mean anyway? Trying to apply "phone logic" and terminology to the auto industry is a losing proposition. Cars are heavily regulated by multiple government organizations around the world.

Increasing displacement? What? Pretty much all volume car manufacturers are making smaller displacement engines, using turbo charging to combat the loss of displacement power and gain in efficiency. They've also started earnest investment in hybrid/full electric alternatives. But just like Apple being slowed by Intel's component development, the auto industry's alternative propulsion is only going to go as far as the battery tech allows it to go.
[doublepost=1453744958][/doublepost]
There's no reason to think he's talking about Apple.

He's a competitor - I seriously doubt Apple would show him anything at all.

I think Tesla is a more likely company that he's referring to (except they're based out of the LA area, not silicon valley... but still.) Tesla has plenty of stuff that they're already selling, so perfectly willing to show off.
I'd say Google more so than Tesla. Especially in the area of autonomous cars. Tesla's pretty much a known entity in the automotive world.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
spacemnspiff Avatar
121 months ago
Auto industry is ripe for 'disruption'. 100 years of little innovation, incremental changes will no real innovation. All they were focused on was tuning suspensions, chassis and adding incremental technologies like BT. They are taking shortcuts like increasing displacements to increase engine power output, as if that is some kind of innovation.

There is no real focus on improving thermal efficiency of engines, still at the most ~30%.

Every new of model year is heavier than the previous model year. How is this innovation? Aluminum chassis has been there for decades, why hasn't that propagated in all the models, especially the so called luxury makes who only focus on top 5mm layer of the car, the sheet metal and interior materials. They charge more for the same car with slight suspension modifications, but won't really innovate. For example they could start by making the car lighter than previous model year.

Germans have really tarnished the meaning of engineering, almost 100 years of reciprocating engines with horrible thermal efficiency and little progress.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)