(Adds share move and Geely's shift to contract manufacturing)

TOKYO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co Ltd saidon Monday it is not in talks with Apple Inc, followinga report that the iPhone maker approached the Japanese companyin recent months about a tie-up for its autonomous car project.

The Financial Times said the companies had had briefdiscussions that faltered over Nissan's reluctance to become anassembler for Apple-branded cars, adding that the talks had notadvanced to senior management level.

"We are not in talks with Apple," a Nissan spokeswoman said."However, Nissan is always open to exploring collaborations andpartnerships to accelerate industry transformation."

The spokeswoman declined to comment further. Representativesfor Apple were not immediately available for comment.

Shares in Nissan were sharply lower in early Mondayafternoon trade, down 3.7% compared to a 1.4% rise for theNikkei 225 benchmark.

Early stage talks between Apple and Hyundai Motor Group overautonomous electric cars also recently collapsed on concernswithin the South Korean automaker about becoming a mere contractmanufacturer.

Reuters reported in December that Apple was moving forwardwith autonomous car technology and aimed to produce a passengervehicle that could include its own breakthrough batterytechnology as early as 2024.

Outsourcing production of some models through originalequipment manufacturing (OEM) deals is common in the autoindustry, but the industry does not have a major contractmanufacturer in the way that Taiwan's Foxconn servesthe consumer electronics industry.

This year, however, China's Geely has announced a flurry oftie-ups including one with Foxconn and another with Chineseinternet giant Baidu Inc as it seeks to position itselfas the go-to contract manufacturer for electric cars inChina.

(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu in Tokyo, Nandakumar D andKanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)