Auto execs worry Apple may hit core operations

Global technology behemoth pushing to begin production of its electric car as early as 2020

Automotive executives are taking seriously the prospect that Apple Inc and Google Inc will emerge as competitors even as they consider partnering with the two.

"If these two companies intend to solely produce electric vehicles, it could go fast," Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn said at the Geneva International Motor Show. "We are also very interested in the technologies of Google and Apple, and I think that we, as the Volkswagen company, can bring together the digital and mobile world."