Nissan says 'not in talks with Apple' over autonomous car project

Nissan Motor said on Monday it is not in talks with Apple, following a report that the iPhone maker approached the Japanese company in recent months about a tie-up for its autonomous car project.

The Financial Times said the companies had had brief discussions that faltered over Nissan’s reluctance to become an assembler for Apple-branded cars, adding that the talks had not advanced to senior management level.

“We are not in talks with Apple,” a Nissan spokeswoman said.

“However, Nissan is always open to exploring collaborations and partnerships to accelerate industry transformation.”

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The spokeswoman declined to comment further. Representatives for Apple were not immediately available for comment.

Shares in Nissan were sharply lower in early Monday afternoon trade, down 3.7% compared to a 1.4% rise for the Nikkei 225 benchmark.

Early-stage talks between Apple and Hyundai Motor Group over autonomous electric cars also recently collapsed on concerns within the South Korean automaker about becoming a mere contract manufacturer.

Reuters reported in December that Apple was moving forward with autonomous car technology and aimed to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology as early as 2024.

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Outsourcing production of some models through original equipment manufacturing (OEM) deals is common in the auto industry, but the industry does not have a major contract manufacturer in the way that Taiwan’s Foxconn serves the consumer electronics industry.

This year, however, China’s Geely has announced a flurry of tie-ups including one with Foxconn and another with Chinese internet giant Baidu Inc as it seeks to position itself as the go-to contract manufacturer for electric cars in China.