That's a ridiculous statement when you don't qualify it with the price at which you would(n't) buy. I am sure Apple would love to own Tesla too, but Tesla shares a very expensive compared to other car companies'. And if Apple were to attempt a hostile takeover, they would have to pay even more. And what exactly would Apple get? Tesla has a fantastic brand, but so does Apple themselves. Tesla has some ability to mass produce cars, but nothing compared to most other car companies. Apple could buy Ford and get much, much better value for its money. The only assets Tesla has that would be of unique value to Apple, are it's employees and maybe some of the tech related to self driving cars.

Buying Tesla would be insane for Apple but bying Ford wouldn't be much less insane. Ford has a huge existing product range that Apple cannot really shape but would still have to support.

If Apple needs auto manufacturing/design know-how they should look at a small company like Volvo or Jaguar.

I agree. I don't actually think it would make sense for Apple to buy Ford. I just used Ford as an example because its market cap is roughly the same as Tesla's.

Ford is tightly owned by the Ford family who control 40% of voting rights in the company. They are unlikely to want to sell or relinquish that control.

Theoretically it would be possible to buy the company without their support - but it would be extremely costly and unlikely.