Tesla Motors chief Elon Musk this week confirmed that his company has had talks with Apple, but declined to offer any details.
“We had conversations with Apple,” Musk told Bloomberg Television this week. “I can’t comment on whether those revolved around any kind of acquisition.”
When asked whether Tesla is for sale—for the right price—Musk dismissed the idea, saying “we need to stay super focused on … creating a compelling mass market electric car.”
An acquisition scenario, he said, would likely distract the company from “the task which has always been … the driving goal of Tesla.”
Rumors about a Tesla-Apple matchup started with a Sunday report from the San Francisco Chronicle, which said Musk met with Apple dealmaker Adrian Perica. That prompted speculation about a possible iCar—or at least a Tesla with some Cupertino customizations.
To that, Musk said Tesla considered integrating Android into its cars, but scrapped the idea as it was “too early in the life of Android.” But a future partnership isn’t out of the question.
“I could certainly see us potentially doing … something that allows people to use Android or iOS applications, but that’s somewhat peripheral to the fundamental goal of Tesla,” he said, “which is to accelerate the electric car revolution.”
In the same interview, Bloomberg TV asked Musk about the Model X, which has been delayed another year to 2015. The CEO expects the X’s demand to exceed that of its predecessor, the Model S, but it appears we will have to wait a bit longer to find out.
“With respect to the X, I’m somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to product design,” he said. “So I totally take the blame for some of that delay being due to me personally and not being completely happy with the product.”
Tesla Motor’s shares skyrocketed on Wednesday, thanks to talk of an Apple-Tesla partnership, as well as healthy sales numbers. In the company’s fourth-quarter shareholder letter, the manufacturer revealed a record 6,892 Model S vehicles sold and delivered at the end of last year. It also suggested that sales will rise another 55 percent in 2014.
