Apple is back to designing a car of its own, as reported by noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF-International Securities. The likeliness of such a product release from Apple continues to increase, as the company has now hired a former BMW senior executive.
Ulrich Kranz, the new hire by Apple, previously worked at BMW and his work was focused on electric cars. The hiring has now been confirmed by Apple, CNBC’s Phil LeBeau reports. The iPhone maker appears to be strengthening its team working on an all-electric car by adding talent from the industry.
Apple has been rumoured to be working on a self-driving all-electric car for almost eight years now. It was previously rumoured to be headed by Apple’s previous SVP of Technologies Bob Mansfield. The car project was reportedly known as ‘Project Titan’ internally. However, after a couple of years, it was reported by people familiar with the matter that the project had been scrapped.
But earlier this year, Kuo reported that Apple is once again working on bringing its own car to the market. According to Kuo, the Apple Car will launch sometime in 2025 or later – 2025 at the earliest. For sometime, it was also rumoured that Apple was working with Hyundai’s subsidiary Kia Motors to create its car.
However, Kia Motors confirmed that it was in discussions with Apple on partnering to create a car. It was reported that Apple did not appreciate the fact that Kia Motors openly revealed a matter which was supposed to be a secret. As a result, the talks between Apple and Kia Motors were reportedly brought to a halt.
Over the years, Apple has been hiring various car industry experts to strengthen its team. In 2018, the iPhone maker hired Tesla’s former engineering chief Doug Field who had worked on the Tesla Model 3.
