Mercedes-Benz isn't worried about Apple making a car

Dieter Zetsche, the chairman of Mercedes-Benz, doesn't think Apple's alleged plans to make an electric car are at all threatening.

When speaking with Australian transportation blog Motoring.au, he said the following when asked about recent Apple car rumors (via 9to5Mac):

If there were a rumour that Mercedes or Daimler planned to start building smartphones then they (Apple) would not be sleepless at night. And the same applies to me. And this is full of respect for Apple. That is what I am saying.

Apple is rumored to be working on an electric car apparently called "Project Titan" internally. Several days after Business Insider receieved an unsolicited email from an Apple employee saying the company's project will give "Tesla a run for its money," Bloomberg reported that Apple wants to start selling electric cars by 2020.

Johann Jungwirth, the former president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Research & Development, joined Apple about six months ago to work as a Mac systems engineer, according to his LinkedIn profile. 9to5Mac, however, reports that Jungwirth is part of the team behind the rumored Apple Car.

For what it's worth, major watchmakers are saying similar things about Apple entering the wristwatch space. Jean-Claude Biver, president of French luxury group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA's watch business, told The Wall Street Journal that the Apple Watch "won't create another crisis for the Swiss watch industry."