During the course of an interview with German weekly Welt am Sonntag, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said that his recent trip to the Silicon Valley has revealed that the progress made by Apple and Google on their automotive projects is much more than what he had anticipated.

According to the Sonntag report, Zetsche – along with a small team of senior managers - met with nearly 70 different companies during his recent tour to the Silicon Valley. Though it is not clear whether Zetsche and his team specifically held meetings at Apple and Google, Zetsche has apparently come back from the tour with the impression that both the companies are further along on their car projects than he had previously thought.

Zetsche’s observation about the apparent advancements in the auto projects of Apple and Google are noteworthy, especially since the two companies are not specifically known for design and production of vehicles. However, each of the two companies has the gravitas, and the money, for hiring any kind of talent and building any production process.

So far as automotive efforts are concerned, Apple’s much-rumored ‘Project Titan’ car project has been kept a secret, while Google has been steadily improving its self-driving cars to enable them to recognize different road hazards.

In reference to the automotive initiatives of Apple and Google, Zetsche said: "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."