Tech giants Apple have long been rumored to be developing a car — most likely a self-driving one, although details are hard to come by. However, they may be pivoting away from that. According to a report from The Financial Times, Apple is looking into buying supercar manufacturer and race car company McLaren.
The report states that Apple is considering either an outright takeover or a huge investment in ownership percentage.
The California technology group, which has been working on a self-driving electric vehicle for more than two years, is considering a full takeover of McLaren or a strategic investment, according to three people briefed on the negotiations who said talks started several months ago.
McLaren is best known for their uber-expensive supercars and the F1 racing team that uses the same name. The odd thing is that McLaren seems to have no interest or experience in developing electric, self-driving cars like the one Apple is rumored to be working on. However, Jalopnik correctly points out that McLaren does more than just make fast cars that sell for ridiculous amounts of money — they have an advanced technology team too.
But there’s way more to McLaren than meets the untrained eye. Not only is the successor to the vaunted McLaren P1 rumored to be electric, but the company itself maintains operations far beyond what you would initially think. Its Applied Technologies Group supplies electronics to everyone from Formula One to NASCAR, and it has done extensive work on data center optimization.
One thing is for sure: if Apple truly wants to buy a car company, they have the cash to do so. Estimates say that the California based computer and phone maker is sitting on at least $200 billion in cash reserves, set aside for just this type of strategic acquisition.
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