Speaking to the BBC, Ford CEO – Mark Fields – said he has “no idea” whether Apple is working on a car, but that he “reads what everybody else reads in the paper, our working assumption is that they are [working on a car].”
Answering a follow-up question about whether Ford would partner with Google to build a car, Fields said that the company didn't find working with Google as a contract manufacturer very appealing; however, he hasn't ruled out working with companies, provided it isn't as a contract manufacturer.
The BBC did a similar interview with Elon Musk. When asked about whether he believes Apple is working on an electric car, he was more forthright with his answer, saying:
“It's pretty hard to hide something if you hire over a thousand engineers to do it.”
In the remainder of the interview, Fields explained what a level four autonomous vehicle is, saying:
"A Level 4 vehicle is where the passenger does not have to take control of the vehicle, but it's a vehicle that's in a pre-defined area, that's been 3D mapped, and what we call geo-fenced."
He also went on to say Ford may not be the first company to release a level four autonomous vehicle but that they are working hard on one at the moment.
The Wall Street Journal, seven months ago, said that Apple is serious about its car efforts and that Project Titan, as it is known at Apple, will ship in 2019. Despite this, we are three years out so estimating a release date is more difficult.
Source: BBC News
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