Sports car maker Porsche and tech giant Apple Inc. discussed potential joint projects last year, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume said Friday (March 18) during the company’s annual report, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Porsche executives traveled to the US late last year to meet with Apple and other tech companies about possible collaborations, Blume said.
“We already have Apple CarPlay,” he said of the software that connects the iPhone to most new cars. “We will expand this. We discussed a number of interesting projects with Apple [executives]”.
The report says that Porsche’s parent company, Volkswagen AG, plans to list the German automaker later this year. Apple did not respond to a WSJ request for comment.
Blume, Porsche CFO Lutz Meschke and other Porsche board members met with unnamed Apple executives in November at the Los Angeles Auto Show, a person familiar with the situation told the WSJ, adding that no details or negotiations were discussed during the meeting.
“There is nothing concrete at the moment,” the person said. “It had nothing to do with the car. We talked about various digital projects.”
According to the report, Apple has been exploring ways to move beyond CarPlay since 2014, including considering developing its own car. The report says the company has looked into manufacturing partners and suppliers with the hope of starting production by 2024.
Hyundai Motor Group said it was in talks with Apple early last year, but those talks ended to no avail. Several Apple executives left the company last year, including Doug Field, who moved to a senior position at Ford Motor Co.
Connected: Apple digital car keys coming to Hyundai and Genesis models this summer
In January, several reports suggested that Apple’s digital car key technology, which unlocks and starts cars using a device app, will be coming to Hyundai and Genesis this summer and could be available to other car brands soon.
Car key users can hold their phones or Apple Watch near the door handle to unlock it, or place their phones in a predetermined area to start the car. People with ultra-wideband iPhones (like the iPhone 11 and newer) can even leave their phones in their pockets.
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