Yes, Apple did meet with McLaren, but the British car company isn't making the iCar

Back in September this year rumors began to circulate that Apple was in talks to buy British car manufacturer McLaren

McLaren were quick to shoot down the rumors at the time, but in a recent interview with Reuters, McLaren’s Chief Executive Mike Flewitt has confirmed that the two companies had met, but “there wasn’t a bid from Apple.” 

“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,” Flewitt said. 

A match made in heaven

At the time we thought that the deal made sense for both companies. Apple has reportedly been working on its own car (the iCar) for some time now, and has made inroads into the automotive sector with Apple CarPlay.

McLaren meanwhile has some serious car-making chops, having been in both the consumer automotive and motorsport industries for decades. 

Although Apple didn’t make an offer, McLaren did confirm that there were bids from other companies. However Flewitt confirmed that McLaren’s shareholders decided against accepting any of the offers made. 

It seems as though the combination of meetings being had with Apple, along with bids being made by other companies, may have been the source of the Apple takeover rumors. 

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Jon Porter

Jon Porter is the ex-Home Technology Writer for TechRadar. He has also previously written for Practical Photoshop, Trusted Reviews, Inside Higher Ed, Al Bawaba, Gizmodo UK, Genetic Literacy Project, Via Satellite, Real Homes and Plant Services Magazine, and you can now find him writing for The Verge.