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McLaren Confirms Talks With Apple, But They 'Never Matured to Definitive Proposition'

<img src="(http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2016/11/McLaren-Apple-logo-250x166.jpg)" alt="mclaren-apple-logo" width="250" height="166" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-533926" />In late September, the Financial Times reported Apple was considering a full takeover of McLaren Automotive or a strategic investment (http://www.macrumors.com/2016/09/21/apple-mclaren-acquisition-talks/) in the British supercar maker.





The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/technology/apple-is-said-to-hold-talks-with-mclaren-and-lit-motors.html) and Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-21/apple-said-in-talks-with-luxury-carmaker-mclaren-ft-reports) separately reported talks were underway as well, noting Apple was more likely to make a large investment in McLaren rather than buy it.





Two months later, it now turns out those reports were accurate. In an interview with Reuters (http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-motorracing-mclaren-idUKKBN13D28N), McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt confirmed McLaren was in discussions with Apple, but he said the talks never progressed towards a definitive proposition. He also ruled out a takeover bid from Apple.

"There wasn't a bid from Apple," said Flewitt. "They visited. We talked. We talked about what they did. We talked about what we did. They toured. It never matured to a definitive proposition," he said.

McLaren previously said (http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/21/13000666/apple-mclaren-acquisition-deal-autonomous-cars) it was "not in discussion with Apple in respect of any potential investment," a seemingly purposefully vague statement that did not rule out discussions between the companies entirely. Financial Times reporter Tim Bradshaw rightly stood by his story (https://twitter.com/tim/status/778644415778742272) despite McLaren's statement.





Apple's interest in McLaren may have diminished as the iPhone maker's ambitions reportedly no longer include building its own car (http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/17/apple-late-2017-deadline-self-driving-system/) "for now." Under the leadership of Bob Mansfield (http://www.macrumors.com/2016/07/25/apple-car-bob-mansfield/), Apple's automotive team has reportedly shifted its focus (http://www.macrumors.com/2016/07/28/apple-car-autonomous-driving-system/) towards developing an underlying system and technologies for autonomous vehicles.





McLaren, headquartered in Woking, Surrey, manufactures high-performance sports cars (http://cars.mclaren.com/), including the P1 and F1 models that look similar to Formula One race cars. The carmaker produced just 1,654 vehicles last year, some costing as much as $1 million apiece. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller (http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/phil-schiller/) is said to own a McLaren.





McLaren has a Formula One team itself that competes under the name McLaren Honda, winning more F1 Grand Prix races than any other team since 1966. Formula One itself was sold to U.S.-based Liberty Media for $4.4 billion in August. McLaren Automotive and McLaren Racing are subsidiaries of McLaren Technology Group.





(Thanks, OllyW!)

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Source: McLaren Confirms Talks With Apple, But They 'Never Matured to Definitive Proposition' (http://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/19/mclaren-confirms-talks-with-apple/)