The logic in Apple buying McLaren

McLaren has a long history of creating exciting, fast cars

You know what they say: there's no exhaust fumes without combustion.

Well, no-one says that. But you get my drift - the reports that Apple has been considering a $1.5bn (£1.2bn) acquisition (or at least significant investment) in British car maker McLaren have thus far been played down by both parties.

Apple's only public foray into car technology has been its software, CarPlay

But there are several compelling reasons to take the reports seriously. For starters, we've known for a while now that Apple is working on car technology.

Whether it's planning on developing an actual car is still up in the air, but we know it has been hiring (and firing) people with automotive expertise for the past few years.


We know the company is investing big in external talent, including $1bn in Chinese ride-sharing service Didi Chuxing, the company dominating that market so strongly even Uber decided it didn't have much chance in that country.

McLaren's statement that it was "not in discussion with Apple about any potential investment" was coupled with "as you would expect, the nature of our brand means we regularly have confidential conversations with a wide range of parties, but we keep them confidential".

Today some are seeing that as a nod that at least preliminary, informal discussions had taken place.
And the source, the Financial Times, is not known for being rash in these matters - it was the FT, remember, that had the scoop on Apple's last enormous acquisition: the $3bn deal for Dr Dre's Beats headphone company.

Though the newspaper did caveat its reporting by saying its source wasn't sure if Apple was still interested after a "change of strategy" in its car plans.

Not long after the Beats story went live we were treated to a video, posted to Facebook, of Dr Dre drunkenly declaring himself the "first billionaire in hip hop".

I don't know McLaren Technology Group founder Ron Dennis personally, but I doubt he'll follow Dr Dre's lead on this one.

A veteran's focus

 

Apple's meticulous approach to secrecy means we'll only know for sure when the company is good and ready. The project is still very much in its infancy Tesla, Google and others all have cars out there clocking up the miles right now.

Then again, Apple has never been particularly worried about being first, and those early-starting rivals should be mindful of the likes of Nokia and Blackberry.

Recent backroom moves surrounding Project Titan - the internal codename for Apple's car efforts - have seen veteran company Bob Mansfield take the helm.

He's a tried, tested and trusted figure at Apple. Formerly the company's top hardware engineer, Mr Mansfield retired a few years ago only to return to oversee development of the Apple Watch. Now, it's reported that a staff of hundreds working on car-related tech reports to him.