Reports recently indicated that Apple was looking to buy McLaren, and such an acquisition would have made sense, but McLaren denied any such plans.
Apple is increasingly interested in the auto scene and even has its own Project Titan in the works, but a partner with more extensive expertise in the field could give it a significant edge.
News of the purported acquisition or investment talks between Apple and McLaren first surfaced on the Financial Times and were later confirmed by The New York Times. Reports noted that Apple was interested in acquiring McLaren, but the latter flatly refuted any claims of ongoing talks with Apple.
"There's no takeover, no strategic investment," a McLaren spokesperson told Business Insider. "It's completely untrue."
Nevertheless, it's still worth taking a closer look at why Apple buying McLaren would have been a good move.
First of all, the small British carmaker has impressive technological expertise in building vehicle control systems and drivetrains, as well as in handling the often-tricky relationships between suppliers and OEMs. At the same time, the automaker also has extensive experience with various materials such as carbon fiber, aluminum and carbon composites.
McLaren may not be a huge company, but it's reputed for its cool sports cars and Formula One team. Aside from making cars, however, McLaren has plenty more to offer. The McLaren Technology Group has 5,000 employees across six divisions such as marketing, racing, automotive and others, and it has also been expanding its consulting division. Moreover, McLaren Applied Technologies provides technology and R&D expertise to various groups across different industries.
While it's one of the smallest automakers operating independently, McLaren is also privately owned and, from a logistical point of view, it would be easier for Apple to make the acquisition.
Apple's Project Titan has reportedly run into some hurdles, and the company decided to reboot the car project and shift to software rather than trying to handle both software and hardware at the same time.
The company never actually confirmed any of its Project Titan plans, but considering its expertise in design, managing supply chains and manufacturing processes, the most plausible theory was that Apple would handle both the software and hardware just like it does with the iPhone and other iDevices.
Investing in McLaren or acquiring the small carmaker would have given Apple a trove of racing technology, automotive engineers, various patents, studies, manufacturing research and more. Considering the purported difficult stage of Project Titan, a McLaren acquisition could have been a gold mine for Apple.
A McLaren acquisition would have granted Apple access to a huge pool of engineering expertise that would otherwise take the company years to develop internally.
Alas, if McLaren denied rumors of any acquisition or investment talks with Apple, it means it's not happening, regardless of how good of a fit it would be.
