American Apple Inc. approached the Japanese Nissan Motor regarding cooperation in the production of electric cars, but the negotiations were terminated.
This is reported by the Financial Times with reference to sources.
Discussions were brief and did not reach senior management because the US company wanted Nissan to produce electric cars under the Apple brand, which would have reduced the carmaker's role to that of an equipment supplier, one source told the FT.
Many car manufacturers are afraid of the prospect of becoming Foxconn in the automotive industry. Taiwan Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Foxconn Technology) is engaged in assembling iPhone smartphones for Apple.
Chief Operating Officer of Nissan Ashwani Gupta said that the company is not negotiating with Apple.
"We will not change the way we manufacture cars in any way," Gupta said in an interview with the FT, stressing that the company will always design and manufacture cars like Nissan.
He noted that Nissan is open to considering partnerships with technology companies to adapt to the transition to Internet-enabled and self-driving cars.
"We can create a partnership, but adapting their services to our products, not the other way around," added Gupta.
Last week, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida, responding to a question about whether the company had received an offer of cooperation with Apple, declared his readiness to work with technological groups.
Analysts believe that Nissan, cooperating with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, would be a suitable partner for Apple. The Japanese company is a pioneer in the production of electric cars after the release of the Leaf in 2010.
In addition, Nissan has free production capacity in the US after the company began to focus on profitability rather than volume.
Some analysts believe that Apple can change the automotive industry, although it is not clear what technologies the company can provide, in addition to the strength of its brand.
Apple has been testing self-driving cars in California for several years. Last week, the company reported that during tests, drivers had to intervene in the process on average every 145 miles (233 kilometers). Waymo drones, developed by Alphabet Inc. (SPB: GOOG), and General Motors Co.'s Cruise. (SPB: GM) managed to overcome about 30 thousand miles without driver intervention.
It was previously reported that Apple has terminated negotiations with South Korean Hyundai and its "daughter" Kia regarding the production of electric cars.
