“Daimler’s chief executive said ‘different types’ of cooperation with Apple and Google are possible as carmakers realize next-generation autos cannot be built without greater input from telecoms and software experts,” Andreas Cremer reports for Reuters.
“‘Many things are conceivable,’ Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in an interview with quarterly magazine Deutsche Unternehmerboerse published on Friday,” Cremer reports. “His comments echoed those of German rival Volkswagen, whose chief executive Martin Winterkorn has urged collaboration with technology firms to make future cars safer and more intelligent.”
“One option could be for Daimler to build cars as part of a joint venture by using the digital expertise of its U.S. partners, Zetsche said, but added that his comments were ‘purely theoretical,'” Cremer reports. “Zetsche said Daimler would not allow itself to be demoted to the role of dumb supplier, simply producing cars for the Silicon Valley giants.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: At this point, it’s smart to keep all options open.