Now the firm's CEO, has added fuel to gossip by saying the car industry is ready for 'massive change'.

Speaking at a Wall Street Journal D Live event in Laguna Beach California, Tim Cook said autonomous driving is set to become more important.

'I do think that industry is at an inflection point for massive change. Not just an evolutionary change,' he said.

While in the short-term Cook confirmed Apple is focused on its CarPlay system to give people an iPhone experience in the car, he seemed to hint there is more to come, The Verge reported.

He noted that software is becoming an increasingly important part of the car of the future. 

'Autonomous driving becomes much more important. 

'And so a lot of the major technologies in the car shift.'

He cited electrification and the move away from traditional combustion engines as being one such shift.

'So it would seem like there will be massive change in that industry, massive change,' he added.

Cook is not the only senior Apple employee who has stopped short of rubbishing rumours that a self-driving car is in the works.

In May, Apple's operations chief Jeff Williams told the Code Conference, 'the car is the ultimate mobile device'.

He quickly added: 'We're exploring a lot of different markets.'

In early 2015, it was claimed Apple has several hundred employees working secretly toward an Apple-branded electric vehicle.

And just two months ago, the firm hired a senior engineer from Elon Musk's electric car maker Tesla, according to a LinkedIn posting.

Jamie Carlson's LinkedIn profile shows he left Tesla for Apple and at least six others with experience developing self-driving technology and systems have moved to Apple too, according to the site.

Apple representatives met in May with officials at an automotive testing facility located east of San Francisco.

Site officials later confirmed to the Associated Press that Apple requested information about using their facility.

Last month, an Apple attorney met with officials at California's Department of Motor Vehicles to discuss the state's regulations for self-driving cars, hinting a car is well under way. 

(dailymail.co.uk)