Elon Musk Brushes Off Apple Car Rumors, Laughs at Apple Watch

In an interview on Handelsblatt, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is asked about his thoughts on Apple’s rumored car ambitions given that Apple has reportedly poached many of Tesla’s top employees and engineers. Musk’s reaction is interesting to say the least:

Do you take Apple’s ambitions seriously?

Did you ever take a look at the Apple Watch? (laughs) No, seriously: It’s good that Apple is moving and investing in this direction. But cars are very complex compared to phones or smartwatches. You can’t just go to a supplier like Foxconn and say: Build me a car. But for Apple, the car is the next logical thing to finally offer a significant innovation. A new pencil or a bigger iPad alone were not relevant enough.

Based on the quote above, it appears that Musk doesn’t think Apple can build a serious car given what they’ve done with the Apple Watch. It’s hard to tell if these comments are coming from someone with a lot of confidence or someone who is a bit worried. Either way, it will be several years before we know for sure, if ever.

You can check out the full interview here.