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Apple is the "Tesla graveyard" where failed employees go to work, the electric carmaker's boss has said in fiery comments hitting out at the iPhone maker's ambitions in the auto space.

Elon Musk shrugged off fears about Apple being a new competitor and said that any Tesla employees it had hired were not important.

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"They have hired people we've fired. We always jokingly call Apple the 'Tesla Graveyard'. If you don't make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I'm not kidding," Musk told German newspaper Handelsblatt, while touring Berlin.

When pushed on whether he took Apple's ambitions in the auto sector seriously, the billionaire's response was even more scathing, mocking the Cupertino, CA-based company's latest products.

"Did you ever take a look at the Apple Watch?" Musk said.

"No, seriously: It's good that Apple is moving and investing in this direction. But cars are very complex compared to phones or smartwatches. You can't just go to a supplier like Foxconn and say: Build me a car."

Musk later tweeted a slightly more conciliatory tone:

Yo, I don't hate Apple. It's a great company with a lot of talented people. I love their products and I'm glad they're doing an EV. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2015

Regarding the watch, Jony & his team created a beautiful design, but the functionality isn't compelling yet. By version 3, it will be. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2015

Apple was not immediately available for comment.

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