FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s Volkswagen is not worried about Apple’s plans for a passenger vehicle that could include the iPhone maker’s battery technology, said its executive Herbert Diess.
Reuters reported in December that Apple could have advanced enough to build a vehicle for mass markets by 2024, aided by reduced costs in battery technology.
“The car industry is not a typical technology sector that could be taken over at once,” Diess said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
“Apple will not handle it overnight,” he added.
While Apple’s plans are not public, Diess said his intentions as such were “logical” because the company had experience in battery life, software and design and had deep pockets to take advantage of those skills.
“Still, we’re not afraid,” he said.
Volkswagen plans to develop the necessary software for internal autonomous cars to ensure that it can compete with technology companies in the field of electric vehicle data.
Reports by Vera Eckert; Edited by Alexander Smith