Daimler, a German multinational automotive corporation, has said that tech giant Apple and Google have made more progress on automotive projects in the recent times.
"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," Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche told the German weekly Welt am Sonntag.
Zetsche and a handful of senior managers met with around 70 companies during his recent trip to the Silicon Valley.
"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.