Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has been speaking to Reuters about a recent trip to California, adding some fuel to the Apple Car rumor fire at the same time. According to Marchionne, Apple boss Tim Cook is planning an “intervention” in the motoring industry, though he wouldn’t reveal what it is. Marchionne also met with Google and Tesla executives on his travels.
“He’s interested in Apple’s intervention in the car, that’s his role,” said Marchionne of Cook, and that’s all we have to go on — aside from all the previous rumors and speculation of course. Many believe that Apple is busy building an electric car of its own, though as yet the company has said nothing official, while others aren’t so sure.
The Apple Car speculation is based on recent hires, patent applications and mysterious self-driving vehicles that have been spotted around San Francisco. Project Titan is reportedly the name for Apple’s motoring plan, and while entering the car market is a hugely expensive undertaking, the Cupertino company is one of the few in the world with the cash resources to do it.
Apple may be plotting to reveal an electric, self-driving car of its own (taking on technologies from both Google and Tesla at the same time) or it might be researching something more specific that can be fitted to existing vehicles. If electric power and batteries are the focus, then this of course would help Apple improve the batteries in its smaller gadgets too.
At the moment the only car-related project Apple officially has is CarPlay, an adaptation of the iOS interface to suit automobile dashboards. If Marchionne is to be believed, then we can look forward to something much more significant further down the line.
