BMW manager: could imagine partnerships with IT firms

MUNICH - BMW is open to building cars for other companies such as Google or Apple, the automaker's production chief said on Wednesday, adding that there are currently no such talks. "We live in a world of partnerships," Oliver Zipse said in response to a question put to him at during a panel discussion about whether BMW could imagine building a car for a software or computer company such as Apple. "We hold regular talks with companies from the telecommunications and IT industry, including Apple, about vehicle connectivity topics, BMW Connected Drive," Zipse added in a statement emailed to Reuters. "Car development and production are not the subject of these talks." - Reuters