BMW’s chief financial officer says the company is unfazed by reports Apple is preparing to disrupt the automotive manufacturing industry.
Rumours that multinational technology firm Apple has been working on some sort of (likely electric and possibly also autonomous) vehicle stretch back to at least 2014. Late in 2020, it emerged the California-based company was looking for a partner to manufacture its upcoming car.
Nicolas Peter told Automotive News Europe the Munich-based firm was in a “strong position” to respond to any fresh threats.
“I sleep very peacefully. Competition is a wonderful thing – it helps motivate the others. We’re in a very strong position and we want to remain in a leading position of the industry,” he said.
In addition, Peter said BMW had no immediate plans to abandon combustion engines, even if its investments continued to shift towards electric mobility.
“We need to be in a position to move with the market. There are announcements [from other automakers planning to go fully electric] coming left, right and centre, and I think the important thing is being able to react to customer demand.”
