Rumors are continuously swirling, suggesting that Apple Car might already be in the works at secret locations believed to be situated in Sunnyvale, California, and Berlin, Germany. BMW and Daimler, however, will no longer help out in Apple's endeavor to produce the so-called iCar.
A recent rumor has emerged saying the two automakers have already abandoned Apple car talks over data ownership and leadership problems.
German business publication Handelsblatt reports on April 20 that the two German automakers have already discontinued talks with the Cupertino-based company over the cooperation deal on iCar, citing its "industry sources."
"Sources said the talks with both German carmakers collapsed over the key questions of who would lead the project and, above all, which company would have ownership of the data," reads the report.
It goes on to say that the talks with BMW already fell apart last year while the discussions with Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler have just recently ended.
While the automakers are said to "have made customer data protection a key element of their future strategy," Apple, in the meantime, reportedly wants the iCar to be "closely built into its own cloud software."
Word also has it that Apple is said to be in talks with Magna Steyr, particularly its Austrian branch. If the latest rumor turns out to be true, Magna Steyr seems to be the frontrunner to manufacture the highly purported Apple Car.
Apple is believed to be searching for a partner that could assist it in producing its Apple Car as it has no experience with regard to car production.
A recent report claims that Apple has reportedly employed 15 to 20 people in its secret car lab in Berlin to work on the Apple car that is aimed to be completed in 2019 or 2020.
A report from another German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, otherwise known as F.A.Z., describes the employees that make up the secret lab in Berlin as "top class" professionals and young "progressive thinkers." These employees are believed to have varied backgrounds, ranging from sales, engineering, software and hardware.
For now, since there is no confirmation yet, let's file this story under the rumor category.
