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== Proposed collaborations and acquisitions ==
During the [[2008–2010 automotive industry crisis]], with car companies nearing collapse, Apple SVP [[Tony Fadell]] floatedproposed to Jobs the idea of buying [[General Motors]] onat thea reduced cheapprice. The idea was abandoned partly because the company felt that it would be a bad look, and partly because of its focus on the [[iPhone]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Satariano |first=Adam |date=November 4, 2015 |title=Steve Jobs Considered Building an Apple Car in 2008 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-04/steve-jobs-considered-building-an-apple-car-in-2008 |url-access=registration |access-date=January 12, 2016 |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.]]}}</ref>
 
FollowingIn Apple's2014, with returnedrenewed interest in 2014the project, Apple's head of corporate development Adrian Perica met with [[Elon Musk]] several times with an interest in acquiring Tesla,<ref name=":0" /> which kicked off the research project.<ref name=":1" /> Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, shut down these early negotiations,<ref name=":0" /> partly due to Apple's CFO (and former GM Europe CFO) [[Luca Maestri]] saying how difficult the car business was.<ref name=":1" /> Despite the failure, years later, then-hardware chief [[Dan Riccio]] and former Ford engineer and iPhone engineer Steve Zadesky returned to Musk to discuss ideas for a collaboration. A few more years later, as Tesla struggled to make its [[Model 3]] sedan, Musk attempted to restart talks with Apple, but said Cook wouldn't meet.<ref name=":0" />
 
AAttempts partnershipto partner with [[Mercedes-Benz]] wasadvanced somewhat further than workedthose on,with Tesla.<ref name="NYT May 2018 VW partnership" /> and was similar to talks with and progressed further than that with Tesla.<ref name=":0" /> The plan was for Mercedes-Benz to manufacture the car, and Apple to also provide Mercedes-Benz its self-driving platform and UI for other cars.<ref name=":0" /> Apple pulled out partly because it had confidence that it could successfully manufacture a car themselves,<ref name=":0" /> and partly over disagreements over controlling the user's experience and data.<ref name="NYT May 2018 VW partnership" /> The talks lasted for more than a year.<ref name="NYT May 2018 VW partnership" />
 
The closest talks came to acquireacquiring a car company were with [[McLaren Group|McLaren]]. Some executives hoped that [[Jony Ive]] would be closer to Apple with that acquisition, following his reduced involvement in the company.<ref name=":0" /> [[BMW]] and [[Canoo]], among others, were also in exploratory talks for an acquisition.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Kane |first=Sean |date=January 12, 2021 |title=Exclusive: Apple held talks with EV startup Canoo in 2020 |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/12/22225026/apple-canoo-acquisition-investment-electric-car-goev |access-date=August 7, 2021 |work=The Verge |publisher=[[Vox Media]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="NYT May 2018 VW partnership" /> Apple also met with [[Nissan]] and [[BYD Auto]].<ref name="NYT May 2018 VW partnership" /> Apple was concerned that integrating an automaker would be a disaster internally.<ref name=":0" /> Apple briefly partnered with [[Magna Steyr]], a maker of low-volume vehicles for the project.<ref name="NYT May 2018 VW partnership" />
 
In 2018, Apple signed a deal with [[Volkswagen]] to make an autonomous shuttle for Apple employees at their new headquarters, [[Apple Park]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="NYT May 2018 VW partnership" /> Volkswagen's [[Volkswagen Transporter (T6)|T6 transport vans]] were to be modified, keeping the chassis and wheels, but with replaced dashboards, seats, and other components.<ref name="NYT May 2018 VW partnership" /> The deal, an interim effort, was shut down by Doug Field, the head of the project, who saw it as a distraction.<ref name=":0" />
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In January 2018, the company registered 27 self-driving vehicles with California's Department of Motor Vehicles.<ref name=D/>
 
While Apple does its bestattempted to keep its autonomous vehicles plans secret, regulatory filings did provide evidence of their project and related activities.<ref name=A/><ref name=B/> regulatory filings do provide some factual insight into its activities. In September 2018, Apple washeld reportedly inthe third place in the-highest number of California autonomous vehicle permits with 70, behind [[General Motors|GM]]'s [[Cruise Automation|Cruise]] (175) and [[Alphabet (company)|Alphabet]]'s [[Waymo]] (88).<ref name="B">{{Cite news |last=Korosec |first=Kirsten |date=September 11, 2018 |title=Apple's autonomous vehicle fleet swells 27% in four months |url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/11/apple-autonomous-vehicle-test-fleet-california-70 |access-date=September 11, 2018 |work=[[TechCrunch]] |publisher=Oath |language=en-US}}</ref>
 
On July 7, 2018, a former Apple employee was arrested by the [[FBI]] for allegedly stealing trade secrets about Apple's self-driving car project.<ref name=D/><ref name="A">{{Cite news |last1=Shubber |first1=Kadhim |last2=Bradshaw |first2=Tim |date=July 10, 2018 |title=Apple self-driving car secrets allegedly stolen |url=https://www.ft.com/content/fa18f5b4-847e-11e8-a29d-73e3d454535d |access-date=October 15, 2018 |work=[[Financial Times]]}}</ref> He was charged by federal prosecutors.<ref name="G">{{Cite news |date=July 11, 2018 |title=Apple employee 'stole driverless car secrets' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44793244 |access-date=October 15, 2018 |work=BBC News |publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref><ref name="D">{{Cite magazine |last=Finley |first=Klint |date=July 10, 2018 |title=Ex-Apple Employee Accused of Stealing Self-Driving-Car Tech |url=https://www.wired.com/story/ex-apple-employee-accused-of-stealing-self-driving-car-tech |url-access=subscription |access-date=October 15, 2018 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]}}</ref> The criminal complaint against the former employee revealed that at that time,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Silver |first=David |date=July 18, 2018 |title=Apple And Zoox Show How Stealth And Learning Are in Tension On Self-Driving Cars |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidsilver/2018/07/18/for-self-driving-companies-like-apple-stealth-and-learning-are-often-in-tension/ |access-date=October 15, 2018 |work=[[Forbes]]}}</ref> Apple still had yet to openly discuss any of its self-driving research,<ref name="C" /> with around 5,000 employees disclosed on the project.<ref>{{Cite news |last=D'Onfro |first=Jillian |date=July 10, 2018 |title=New details about Apple's autonomous driving technology revealed in criminal complaint against ex-engineer |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/10/ex-apple-employee-charged-with-stealing-autonomous-car-trade-secrets.html |access-date=October 15, 2018 |work=[[CNBC]] |publisher=[[NBCUniversal]]}}</ref><ref name="E">{{Cite news |date=July 11, 2018 |title=Ex-Apple engineer, accused of stealing driverless car secrets for Chinese firm, busted at San Jose airport |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/11/business/ex-apple-engineer-accused-stealing-driverless-car-secrets-chinese-firm-busted-san-jose-airport/ |access-date=October 15, 2018 |work=[[The Japan Times]] |publisher=Bloomberg L.P.}}</ref><ref name="C">{{Cite news |last=Chiu |first=Allyson |date=July 11, 2018 |title=Ex-Apple engineer arrested on his way to China, charged with stealing company's autonomous car secrets |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/07/11/ex-apple-engineer-arrested-on-his-way-to-china-charged-with-stealing-companys-autonomous-car-secrets/?noredirect=on |url-access=subscription |access-date=October 15, 2018 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>
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=== 2021 ===
An industry source told ''[[The Korea Times]]'' that Apple was working in Korea to build its supply chain.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 9, 2021 |title=Apple seeing developments in 'iCar' talks with Korean partners |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2021/08/693_313622.html |access-date=August 11, 2021 |work=[[The Korea Times]] |language=en}}</ref> Later in 2021, Apple was reportedly in talks with Toyota as well as Korean partners for production to commence in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chan |first=Mick |date=September 7, 2021 |title=Apple Car - Tech giant in talks with Toyota, Korean battery suppliers for production to commence 2024 |url=https://paultan.org/2021/09/07/apple-car-tech-giant-in-talks-with-toyota-korean-battery-suppliers-for-production-to-commence-2024/ |website=[[Paul Tan|paultan.org]]}}</ref>
After Doug Field departed the project and joined Ford, [[Kevin_Lynch_(computing)|Kevin Lynch]], the wearables chief at Apple, was appointed to lead the project. <ref>{{cite web
| title = Apple has reportedly appointed wearable chief Kevin Lynch to lead its car division
| website = TechCrunch
| url = https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/09/apple-has-reportedly-appointed-wearable-chief-kevin-lynch-to-lead-its-car-division/
| date = September 9, 2021
| access-date = October 22, 2024
}}</ref>
 
=== 2022–2024 ===
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