Apple NOT in talks with McLaren about an acquisition - McLaren

McLaren denies £1bn+ Apple takeover talk

Supercar maker McLaren has denied reports that computer giant Apple is in takeover talks with the company.

The claims were originally made in a report in the Financial Times newspaper on Wednesday. But the ultra-high-end car marker, which sold just 1,654 vehicles last year, denied any suggestion that Apple was in talks to acquire it.

"We can confirm that McLaren is not in discussion with Apple in respect of any potential investment," claimed the company in response to press questions. Apple, meanwhile, maintained its usual position of not commenting on what it describes as "speculation".

Despite McLaren's denials, the FT stands by its story. Tim Bradshaw, the journalist who broke the original story, tweeted: "We stand by our story despite McLaren's statement". Bradshaw claims that the FT was brief by three people, who said that the negotiations had started "several months ago".

An acquisition of a car company like McLaren would, in time, probably pitch Apple squarely against Tesla in the luxury market.

While McLaren's cars currently sell for around £1m, it would bring expertise in the use of lightweight alloys, carbon fibre and aluminium in car making that would help maximise the range of an electric vehicle, in particular, as well as knowledge about what it takes to build an upmarket car.

Apple, though, would want to apply McLaren's expertise to much lower cost vehicles.

An acquisition would demonstrate that Apple remains keen on expanding into vehicle development with the shake-up expected to be brought to bear on the car market by the combination of electric vehicles and self-driving software. It remains to be seen, though, when that predicted revolution in the car market will occur.

Nevertheless, with McLaren valued at between £1bn and £1.5bn it would represent a cost-effective means of buying car design and production knowledge, which Apple's resources could apply to lower cost cars.

Although Apple, which is typically gnomic on the subject of new product developments, is known to be interested in self-driving cars, it is rumoured to be struggling to design a definitively Apple car.

According to the latest tittle-tattle on MacRumors, the company has been working on an electric-powered car to be launched in 2020 at the earliest. Called Project Titan, Apple is also working on an autonomous driving system as part of the same initiative.

It reportedly has "hundreds" of employees working on vehicle development, with early prototypes resembling a mini-van, according to sources. The abrupt departure of project director Steve Zadesky had indicated that Apple's vehicle development plans weren't going smoothly.

Earlier this month, the company, reportedly "rebooted" its vehicle initiatives with the lay-offs of a number of employees and the decision to focus on autonomous driving systems rather than building vehicles.

It also brought in Dan Dodge, who only retired from BlackBerry last month, for his knowledge and expertise of QNX, the embedded operating system widely used in the motor industry.