Apple Car Rumors Resurface: This Time It's About Cupertino And Toyota

The on-off rumors regarding a self-driving car from Apple, Inc. AAPL dubbed the Apple Car are surfacing yet again.

What Happened: Apple is scouting for suppliers and carmakers in Asia and has met with world's second most-valued automaker Toyota Motor Corporation TM in this regard, MacRumors reported, citing a paywalled article from Digitimes.

Apple is targeting mass production of the Apple Car by 2024 and reportedly had discussions with South Korean EV component manufacturers SK Group and LG Electronics in August.

Toyota is a pioneer in hybrid powertrains, having introduced the first-gen Prius in 1997, but is late to the battery EV party. Given the growing interest, the company has pushed forward its timeframe for launching EVs.

At the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this year, the company revealed the 2023 Subaru all-electric EV and said it plans to launch 15 EVs by 2025. The automaker also announced the BZ4X, which will serve as the starting point for all its future EV models.

Toyota, along with Subaru, has developed a new dedicated EV platform called e-TNGA.

At this point, it isn't clear what kind of association Apple may be looking to forge with Toyota.

Related Link: Why Apple Is A 'Top Tech Name' To Own Right Now

Why It's Important: The Apple Car project, codenamed "Project Titan," was started in 2014 but was put on the back burner for a while. Rumors regarding the company renewing its efforts toward a self-driving car resurfaced in late 2020.

Several potential partners were named, including Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. NSANY, Hyundai Motor Company HYMTF, Renault SA RNLSY and even Apple's chip supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited TSM.

Reports also suggested Apple has toned down its ambitions and is looking to develop an underlying self-driving car system rather than a full-fledged car.

The hiring of several key personnel for the self-driving car project suggests Apple may stick with its original plan of building a car for consumers.

Apple is also reportedly working on a new battery design that could radically bring down the cost of the battery.

Apple shares were trading near-flat at $152.60 Thursday and Toyota shares were down 0.17% at $175.84.