Report: Daimler And BMW Have Ended Talks With Apple

According to Handelsblatt, a Germany-based business and finance publication, Daimler and BMW ended talks with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) over a potential cooperation deal on a future electronic car.

Handelsblatt, citing "industry sources," noted that Apple has been looking for a partner that could provide manufacturing expertise. However, the publication's sources said talks between Apple, Daimler and BMW have "collapsed over the key questions of who would lead the project" and "which company would have ownership of the data."

Apple wanted an electric car to be built into its own cloud software, but the German manufacturers demanded that data protection be a central element of their future strategy.

The publication added that talks with BMW fell apart last year but talks with Daimler fell apart "more recently."

Shares of Apple were trading higher by 0.70 percent mid-Wednesday afternoon.