BMW Chief Monetary Officer Nicolas Peter is undaunted by stories that the world’s most precious firm may enter the automotive enterprise.

“I sleep very peacefully,” Peter mentioned in an interview when requested about Apple. “Competitors is an excellent factor — it helps inspire the others. We’re in a really sturdy place and we need to stay in a number one place of the business.”

Peter believes the German automaker is effectively positioned as electrification and options to non-public automobile possession remodel the auto business.

The feedback are the newest present of confidence by BMW after a 12 months through which it watched Tesla seize a commanding market worth lead over incumbent automotive firms.

CEO Oliver Zipse mentioned final month the U.S. automaker may have a hard time continuing to grow as quickly as established auto producers mount counter assaults with extra EV choices.

Hypothesis that Apple is engaged on an autonomous electrical automobile has added to issues that automakers face formidable threats from extra technologically adept disruptors.

Peter, a 30-year veteran of BMW, believes premium producers’ larger returns will furnish them with the billions of {dollars} of money wanted to plow into new applied sciences.

Whereas German automakers’ money flows have markedly improved because the begin of the pandemic, Tesla and others have tapped into the market’s enthusiasm for all-electric automotive firms by promoting inventory. Producers are reacting to the message capital markets have despatched them with unprecedented strikes: Daimler is spinning off its truck unit and Volkswagen Group is claimed to be contemplating a separate listing of Porsche.

Peter just isn’t inclined to make rash selections. Whereas Bloomberg Information reported final 12 months that Uber Applied sciences was contemplating a purchase order of BMW and Daimler’s ride-hailing enterprise, and that the 2 automakers have been exploring a sale of their collectively owned parking-app enterprise, the CFO mentioned the corporate wants to take care of a presence in providers that provide options to automobile possession.

“We can’t exit digital mobility providers,” he mentioned. “Particularly in inner-urban areas, we’ve modified our driving behaviors. We’re making ready for the entry that non-public automobiles have to those cities to be lowered — that’s the reason we’d like these mobility providers.”

BMW and Daimler mixed their car-sharing and ride-hailing models in early 2019, pledging to pour greater than 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) into the operation they named Your Now. The automakers have held talks to promote their parking enterprise to European rival EasyPark Group, folks aware of the matter mentioned final month.

Whereas BMW may promote elements of particular person companies, Peter mentioned mobility apps will play a key position in holding the automaker related with tech-savvy younger shoppers.

BMW will proceed to supply combustion-engine vehicles together with electrical variations for the foreseeable future, Peter mentioned, at the same time as rivals resembling Ford and Volvo set finish dates for promoting automobiles that run on gasoline or diesel.

“We must be ready to maneuver with the market,” Peter mentioned. “There are bulletins coming left, proper and middle, and I feel the necessary factor is having the ability to react to buyer demand.”