TOKYO (Reuters) – Nissan Motor Co Ltd said on Monday it was not in talks with Apple Inc after news that the iPhone maker had approached the Japanese company in recent months about a deal for its autonomous car project .
The Financial Times said the companies had brief discussions that faltered about Nissan’s reluctance to become an Apple-branded car maker, adding that the negotiations had not advanced to the senior management level.
“We are not negotiating with Apple,” said a Nissan spokeswoman. “However, Nissan is always open to exploring collaborations and partnerships to accelerate the transformation of the industry.”
The spokeswoman declined to comment further. Apple representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Nissan shares fell sharply in Monday’s early afternoon trading, down 3.7% compared to a 1.4% increase in the Nikkei 225 index.
Early-stage negotiations between Apple and the Hyundai Motor Group about self-driving electric cars have also recently failed due to concerns by the South Korean automaker about becoming a mere contract manufacturer.
Reuters reported in December that Apple was moving ahead with autonomous car technology and intended to produce a passenger car that could include its own innovative battery technology as early as 2024.
Outsourcing the production of some models through original equipment manufacturing (OEM) agreements is common in the automotive industry, but the industry does not have a large contracted manufacturer in the same way that Foxconn, from Taiwan, serves the consumer electronics industry. .
This year, however, China’s Geely has announced a flurry of partnerships, including one with Foxconn and another with Chinese internet giant Baidu Inc, while seeking to position itself as the contract manufacturer for electric cars in China.
Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu in Tokyo, Nandakumar D and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina Gibbs