Allegedly the German automaker Volkswagen and American computer company Apple Inc. are working on a common project: “iCar,” the German-language magazine Capital reports.
Experts say a car with Apple products would garner much interest, especially among younger buyers, Sueddeutsche.de reports.
A Volkswagen spokesperson confirmed that VW chief Martin Winterkorn met a few days ago with Apple Boss Steve job in California for discussions relating to the project. The discussions are said to be in the early stages.
According to the report, there are to be models for Western Europe along with sales in the growing markets of China, India and Russia. In developing countries this “iCar” will be offered for 6500 euro, Sueddeutsche.de reports.
Full article (German to English via Google Translation) here.
Capital’s article (German to English via Google Translation) is here.
MacDailyNews Take: Best guess, peering through cloudy, ham-handed translation: iPod/iPhone vehicle integration of some sort.
I once asked Jonathan Ive how he ever chose a car… the design flaws he would see in them all must make him mad!!
Perhaps he and Jobsie are going to design a car for the rest of us now and turn that market on its head too!
Not impossible.
JesusWagen
Maybe it’ll have Widgets on its Dashboard and a MultiTouch transmission
my dream is that Apple will enter the car market eventually.
Cars are so unrevolutionary, we need steve to pull up in his iCar and get us all thinking
iThink therefore iAm
mw : students
Imagine a car that, when parked in your driveway or garage, connected securely to your iTunes library and synced your music, videos (for the kids and whatnot), and audiobooks to your mobile stereo. No iPod cables, no hacked-together and inconsistent UI, just seamless, joyful iTunes/carPod goodness. FM Tuner optional for $50. I can see it already…
“Must be an add on and not just for the car.”
I thought a Volkswagen was an add on.
I love you ChrissyOne!!
Move to Mexico!
I’ll build you a Palapa in Yalapa!
much better than a Condo in Redondo
(my wife thinks you are neat too!!)
I’d love to see Apple design a car, but not with Volkswagen. I could never buy another after the 1990 Golf I once owned. It had more miles behind a tow truck than it did actually driving. If I didn’t know better, I’d have guessed it was a Microsoft product.
This has to be an attempt at integrating more Apple products into the sutomobile, not designing an “Apple Car”.
Kind of like a suite of options that you can add-on.
Although…if Apple ever designed a line of cars, I would imagine something small, electric, snappy, and with matte windows for all of the gloss haters out there.
Women might only have one button, but there’s nothing like the reaction to pushing it just right!
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@ hotinplaya
I’m getting sick enough of the crappy weather in Seattle I just might…
@Alice…I’ve had the same thoughts! The auto industry needs more outside-the-box thinking.
Very short-sighted to think that this is simply about iPod/iPhone integration. VW does that now and doesn’t need to meet with Steve Jobs to implement iPod/iPhone integration. This would be much more about how the car overall looks, feels, operates, and perhaps even with OS X as the car’s operating system with touch-screen controls (most automotive navigation and other such systems have been horribly complex and user un-friendly).
Keep in mind also that this may simply be a concept car, and even that is likely 2 years away from seeing the light of day.
I would buy it…sight unseen.
How does Volkswagen (non-)design compare to Apple’s ? I must have slipped in another dimension…
Volkswagen is working on an inexpensive automobile. This is probably just a partnership to have plugs and whatnot in the auto for connecting Apple products. Apple will not be building a car.
“I’ll have what C1’s having…”
@ Billy Crystal’s Mom
Good one.
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Subaru! Subaru! Not VW! Please!
I think Apple should partner with Mercedes-Benz and integrate with their Smart Car. It’s about the same size as an iPhone.
http://smartusa.com/
VW4Life!
If I had to choose between giving up my mac and giving up my V-Dub, I don’t know which I’d choose. They’re both *that important.*
I absolutely LOVE the Volkswagen Beetle and actually have thought about buying one…But not now! I’ll just wait til these come out… Wonderful idea!!! Don’t let me down…
The ‘smart’ started as a joint project between Swatch and Mercedes. So if a watch company can partner on a car so can a consumer electronics company.
Meh, VW needs an injection of style. Something happened awhile ago and they haven’t been able to get back to their base. The New Beetle opened a new market for them and the Rabbit is a fun little car but their design problems go back to 1999-2000. The A4’s, IMHO, were way too big. The last decent Golf/GTI base was the A3. The Passat was just a rebadged Audi but the V6 Passat Wagon was a kick @ss ride and the W8 dripped with German engineering. And yet they screwed the pooch with the new designs. They look like Japanese cars. They should revisit the Scirocco or better yet the Corrado, perhaps the finest sports car they ever built. I’m down to my ’85 Westfalia and the wife’s ’00 Beetle. I miss my GTI sometimes, especially at the pump, but for the price of a new Rabbit (the way I wanted it) I got a new Tundra 4×4 (which comes in handy at the beach). There’s something wrong at VW…and I’m sure they don’t know it.