According to a report from Reuters, the company’s CEO Elmar Degenhart has come out publicly to show their support for Apple’s efforts and also to claim that they are interested in partnering with Apple on their vehicle, assuming that such a vehicle is even in the making at all. Degenhart was quoted as saying, “Apple has an excellent reputation on information and communication systems, and has incredible financial strength.”
If you’ve ever owned a car, chances are you’ve heard of the Continental brand which does not make vehicles of their own, but rather makes parts and components used to make vehicles, so it would not be a complete surprise if Apple were to take Continental up on their offer to help supply them with some components that could be used to make the rumored electric vehicle.
In fact Continental has had some experience with electric vehicles, having worked on energy storage systems in the past, using technology from A123 Systems, the same company that has accused Apple of poaching some of their key employees.