BMW CFO on Apple Car: 'Competition is a Wonderful Thing'

Amid rumors that Apple is working on an Apple-branded car that will come out in the next decade, BMW Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter today told Bloomberg that he's not concerned about the threat of an Apple vehicle.

Apple car wheel icon feature purple
"I sleep very peacefully," said Peter when Bloomberg asked for his opinion on Apple entering the car market. "Competition is a wonderful thing - it helps motivate the others."

He went on to explain that BMW is in a "very strong position" and wants to "remain in a leading position of the industry."

BMW executives have been similarly calm about Tesla's growing dominance in the car market. Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse in February said that "it won't be easy" for Tesla to continue growing at a rapid pace as traditional car makers come out with electric vehicles. "The rest of the industry is moving ahead big time," said Zipse.

Apple is said to be working on an Apple-designed and branded vehicle that will be fully autonomous and electric. Apple is rumored to be looking for manufacturing partners and at one point, was considering Hyundai/Kia. We're still many years away from an Apple vehicle, however, with rumors suggesting that work on the car is in the early stages with Apple planning for a launch in 2025 at the earliest.

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Top Rated Comments

az431 Avatar
61 months ago
Why is this even news? Did anyone expect a BMW executive to respond that they have an inferior product, are scared of competition, and would therefore be closing the company down?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
61 months ago
CFO makes a common sense remark and it is front page news.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iLog.Genius Avatar
61 months ago

Why are these car companies' executives coming out of the woodworks to say they're not afraid of a product that doesn't even exist yet?
...Because people/the media are asking them the question? It's not like they're randomly holding press conferences just to say "We're not threatened by the Apple Car. Any questions?".
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ani4ani Avatar
61 months ago

lol he must be on sleeping pills to sleep peacefully, they can hardly compete on ICE now let alone EV
Bit of a silly statement when (aside from the pandemic year) they had been selling record numbers of cars worldwide for the previous 2 years and still sell 8 times as many cars as Tesla. They are the biggest selling ”premium” brand in the world.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iLog.Genius Avatar
61 months ago

lol he must be on sleeping pills to sleep peacefully, they can hardly compete on ICE now let alone EV
Top premium automaker in 2020 during COVID. Can't compete on ICE. Sure. ?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedTheReader Avatar
61 months ago

Why is this even news? Did anyone expect a BMW executive to respond that they have an inferior product, are scared of competition, and would therefore be closing the company down?
Wholeheartedly agreed. To take it a step further, “admitting” aside, does anyone actually expect BMW to have an inferior product, be scared of competition, and close down?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)