Daimler

German carmakers Daimler and BMW won’t be collaborating with Apple on electric car project

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 5, 2018

German newspaper Handelsblatt is reporting that German carmakers Daimler and BMW won't be collaborating with Apple on its rumored electric car, code-named Project Titan.

According to sources in the know, talks with Daimler and BMW over a cooperation deal on an electric car have ended. The talks with BMW collapsed last yea.

Those with Daimler have ended more recently, reportedly over the key questions like would lead the project and which company would have ownership of the data. Neither of the three companies would even confirm that negotiations had taken place.

Project Titan faces another road block: unhappy with progress, Apple reportedly freezes hiring

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 25, 2016

AppleInsider reported Monday that Apple's automotive ambitions are at crossroads as the company has reportedly instituted a hiring freeze on the 1,000+ person team responsible for so-called Project Titan after a recent progress review.

Jony Ive, Apple's Chief Design Officer, is said to have “expressed his displeasure” with the group's headway following a post-holiday review of the secretive project.

Daimler CEO: Apple’s made more progress on automotive project than previously assumed

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 25, 2016

During a recent trip to Silicon Valley, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche told German weekly Welt am Sonntag that Apple and Google have made more progress on automotive projects than he had assumed, Reuters reported Monday.

“Our impression was that these companies can do more and know more than we had previously assumed. At the same time they have more respect for our achievements than we thought,” the executive told the paper.

‘Different types’ of cooperation possible with Apple, says Mercedes-Benz maker

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 21, 2015

Mercedes-Benz maker is not ruling out the possibility of vaguely outlined “different types” of cooperation with Apple, which is rumored to be building an electric car of its own code- named Project Titan. “Many things are conceivable,” Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in an interview with quarterly magazine Deutsche Unternehmerboerse published on Friday.

Daimler AG, a German multinational automotive corporation, owns a number of car brands such as the Mercedes-Benz and Smart Automobile, and was an important launch partner for Apple's CarPlay in-car software.

Nokia sells HERE maps division to German carmakers Audi, BMW and Daimler

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Nokia, once the dominant force in the mobile industry, has sold off its prized HERE maps division to a German carmaker consortium comprised of Audi, BMW and Daimler, technology blog Re/code reported this morning.

The $3.07 billion transaction (2.8 billion euros) is pending regulatory approval and should be completed in the first quarter of 2016. The deal is meant to “secure the long-term availability” of HERE maps as an open platform, as per a media release.

News of the deal arrives following months of speculation that a bunch of Silicon Valley technology giants were interested in a takeover bid, including ride sharing service Uber, as well as Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Baidu and others.