Apple Is Really Into Automobile Industry With BMW Rumors And More

By Staff Writer

Aug 01 2015, 17:32 PM EDT

Analysts say Apple is clearly increasingly interested in competing inside the automobile industry. Several evidences are pointing to its impending entry to the car world. With its upcoming in-car software, BMW rumors and car-industry executive hirings, all details point to an Apple car someday.

The Cupertino tech giant was said to be eyeing this nice BMW electric car i3 to be the basis of the Apple car under the mysterious Project Titan. Beta News confirms from a German report that Apple CEO Tim Cook met with BMW officials in Leipzig, Germany. The topic of these discussions was not officially disclosed. Reports say that it appears to be a periodic meeting between the two companies so there must be serious talks going on. Also, Cook met with other auto manufacturers when visiting Germany as well.

Business Insider added a few interesting insights to the issue. First, Apple is already developing an in-car software system for other auto manufacturers which they fondly call CarPlay. Secondly, Apple's recent hiring of auto execs and individuals with deep experience in vehicular hardware suggests its ambitions go beyond just car softwares.

While Apple has been silent as usual, major car manufacturers including Tesla, have all dropped hints that Apple is entering the automotive industry. Moreover, it has been reported that this Apple-BMW car project is set to challenge Tesla, the wildly-popular electric car giant.

When asked about the potential Apple-BMW partnership and the Apple car, Tesla founder Elon Musk said, "I actually hope Apple gets into the car business, that would be great," Apple Insider quoted.

With Apple rampantly poaching automotive industry's big guns, Apple Insider reported Tesla is not seeing significant attrition of engineers to Apple. They added that over the past 12 months Tesla has wooed about five times as many engineers from Apple than the other way around. It is worthy of mention, too that earlier this year, Musk reportedly said that Apple was trying "very hard" to poach Tesla engineers for a secret car project, with offers as much as $250,000 signing bonuses and 60 percent salary raises.

Lastly, Apple Insider reveals that Apple's top-secret Project Titan is likely being run inside unmarked warehouses in Sunnyvale, CA.