Apple, Google making progress on car, says Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche

Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche told German weekly Welt am Sonntag that a recent trip to Silicon Valley revealed that Apple and Google have made more progress on automotive projects than he had assumed

Several carmakers and silicon valley companies are working on developing a self-driving car. Google tested its own prototype vehicle in 2012, to which Daimler's luxury brand Mercedes-Benz responded by developing an S-Class limousine which drove 103 kilometers without needing any driver input.

Rumors have swirled that rival Apple is also working on a car, although the company has never confirmed this.

"Our impression was that these companies can do more and know more than we had previously assumed. At the same time they have more respect for our achievements than we thought," Zetsche told the paper.

Zetsche and a handful of senior managers met with around 70 companies in Silicon Valley, the paper said, without naming them.

"There were concrete talks. I will not say anything about the content. It was not just about the fact that there is an innovative spirit in the Valley. We know that already. We wanted to see what drives it, and all the things that can be created from it," Zetsche told the paper, explaining that they had also looked at start-up firms.