“Apple Computer Inc. and automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke AG are developing a device that will let users listen to songs from their iPod music players through the radios of BMWs and Minis. The adaptors will be available in vehicles sold in the U.S., Eckhard Wannieck, a BMW spokesman at the carmaker’s Munich headquarters, said in an interview. He wouldn’t elaborate,” Dan Stets and Peter J. Brennan report for Bloomberg News.
“A deal with BMW is likely to be the first of several pairings between Apple and carmakers as the computer maker, once mainly known for its Macintosh PCs, tries to sell more iPods. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, in Europe this week to open iTunes online music stores, said he is in talks with automakers he wouldn’t name,” Stets and Brennan report.
“‘It’s just the tip of the iceberg,’ said Jim Grossman, a portfolio manager at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which manages $64 billion. ‘The market opportunity for people who would like to play iPods in their cars is huge.’ BMW will release details on models and prices in coming weeks, Wannieck said. The devices will allow users to control their iPod players in the same way they would control the radio… Jobs on Monday said the company will introduce a music product for cars later this year,” Stets and Brennan report.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Thanks, Apple. We’ve only been asking for almost a year. 
Related MacDailyNews article:
Apple request: we need the Apple ‘iBox’ and ‘iPodCar’ products now – August 07, 2003
Apple’s new iTunes Car Stereo should debut this fall for holiday sales season – August 07, 2003