Nissan says it's not in discussions with Apple for autonomous car projects

Some time ago, Hyundai and Kia reported talks with Apple to make an electric car, or what became known as the "Apple Car." However, both companies later denied this in a statement. However, we soon heard that Nissan was another candidate to partner with Apple for the autonomous car project. But in the automaker's latest statement, it has been made clear that Nissan is not in talks to work with Apple.

According to a Financial Times report, the Japanese automaker has entered into talks with Apple. Now, as Reuters mentioned, the Nissan spokesperson said: "We are not in talks with Apple." It was added that "However, Nissan is always open to exploring collaborations and partnerships to accelerate the transformation of the industry."

The second statement does not confirm that the talk took place, but it does not contradict the Financial Times story. According to FT "the contact was brief, and the discussions did not advance to senior management levels following divisions over branding for the iPhone maker's electric vehicles."

Nissan COO Ashwani Gupta told the newspaper that "We have our own customer satisfaction, which comes by car. No way we are going to change the way we make cars." Gupta added that "The way we design, the way we develop, and the way we manufacture is going to be as an automotive manufacturer, as Nissan."

Although Hyundai has already denied working with Apple on the autonomous car project, analyst Ming Chi-Kuo believes that the first Apple Car will be built on Honda's E-GMP platform and will ship in 2025 at the earliest.