Apple’s car plans grow murkier with each new rumor
Two publications Wednesday had stories citing unnamed sources saying Apple is in talks to buy automotive companies, presumably to help in its rumored Project Titan autonomous car effort. The Financial Times was first out with a story that Apple has been in talks for several months to buy (or invest in) British automaker McClaren (known for its Formula One race cars), a rumor that McClaren was quick to deny.
A New York Times story later appeared stating that Apple was in talks to buy both McClaren and a small San Francisco company called Lit Motors that makes self-balancing motorcycle-car hybrid vehicles. Apple, the report says, has recently hired several people from Lit.
So the two rumors superimpose a luxury race car and a motorcycle-car hybrid over the place in the public imagination occupied by the "Apple Car," and it doesn't make much sense. How all these shapes and technologies might all fold into an Apple Car is anybody's guess. The Apple Car is getting blurrier with each new rumor. MS