The Apple Car Is Dead, Says Bloomberg

“Building an automobile is hard,” says Elon Musk. He should know. He has ridden the tiger and knows better than anyone how close Tesla Motors has come to financial ruin on more than one occasion. When Tesla first started selling electric cars in 2012, many industry observers predicted it would quickly come to grief. But it didn’t. In fact, it prospered in the face of impossible odds. It was so successful that Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, decided his company should get in the swim and build its own electric car to compete with Tesla. How hard could it be?

Actually, pretty damned hard. Word has leaked from within Apple that it has decided not to build a car after all. According to Bloomberg News, hundreds of Project Titan employees have been reassigned, let go, or quit.

Just a few months ago, Apple brought senior engineer Bob Mansfield out of semi-retirement to be the head ramrod on the Titan program. Mansfield was a close confidant of Apple founder Steve Jobs and has spearheaded several of the company’s more successful product development programs. Mansfield apparently didn’t like what he found when he took over Project Titan.

A month after taking over the reins, Mansfield made an announcement to the team alerting to a shift in strategy. He said that after examining the program, he had determined Apple should not attempt to be a competitor to Tesla but rather a maker of self-driving systems it can sell to other manufacturers. According to insiders, Apple senior managers have told the Project Titan team it has until late 2017 to get its act together and decide on a final direction for the program.

Apple’s new direction faces headwinds of its own. Conventional carmakers are skeptical about turning over an important component of their automobiles to eggheads from Silicon Valley. Many worry they will soon be seen merely as assemblers of other people’s components rather than true manufacturers. They are wary of letting technology companies own the lucrative software components of their cars.

There was a time earlier this year when Elon Musk said somewhat wistfully that, one day, Tesla Motors would be worth as much as Apple, which currently has a market value of $700 billion. Based on the total fiasco that Project Titan has become, Apple should be worried that it doesn’t fall from its perch atop the business world while Tesla zooms by it in the fast lane.

At a time when Silicon Valley seems to think anyone over 30 is brain dead, it is interesting to see an old war horse like Mansfield being brought in to clean up the mess made by all those self-absorbed techies.

Source: Bloomberg News

Senior Executive Placed In Charge Of Apple Car Program

Last week, Apple announced that  Steve Zadesky, the man who reportedly was in charge of the super secret Apple car project, has left the company “for personal reasons.” That is usually corporate code for saying someone has been fired without coming right out and saying so. In his place, Apple has turned to one of its oldest and most trusted veterans, Bob Mansfield.

Mansfield has been involved at the highest levels with such vital Apple products as the MacBook Air laptop computer, the iMac desktop computer, and the iPad tablet. According to the Wall Street Journal, he joined Apple in 1999 and was one of its top executives under Steve Jobs. Subsequently, he served as an adviser to the company. In 2013, Apple said Mansfield would remain at Apple to work on special projects and report directly to CEO Tim Cook. One of those projects — the Apple Watch — was introduced last year.

Until recently, Mansfield was largely absent from the company except for occasional visits. However earlier this month employees at Apple noticed that the company directory had changed to show all the senior managers on the Apple car project — code named Project Titan — were now reporting to Mansfield.

Apple insiders say the company has hired many people with automobile manufacturing experience. There are reports of clashes between the car building people and the traditional Apple employees who specialize more in software than hardware. Technology news site The Information reported last week that Apple had pushed back the target date for Project Titan to 2021, although it isn’t clear whether this is a target that Mr. Mansfield has approved.

Within the company, Mansfield has a reputation as a data driven decision maker who enjoys complex projects. However, one person familiar with his work cautioned that his involvement isn’t necessarily a sign that the car project is ready to move forward. Mansfield also has killed projects in the past.

The mystery around an Apple car deepens. Is it going to build a car or not? Will it be autonomous or not? Will it settle for getting is Apple Car Play systems installed as original equipment by existing manufacturers? Will it build a car itself or farm out production to an independent like Steyer?

Those are the questions that Bob Mansfield has apparently been asked to provide definitive answers to for Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Source: Wall Street Journal

German Press Says Apple Car Will Be Built By Magna In Austria

Rumors of the Apple Car just refuse to go away. Despite a stony silence from Apple, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , reported on April 18 that Apple is operating a secret laboratory for the development of an automobile — in the middle of Berlin, no less. In addition, there are concrete plans to sell the car in Germany. The newspaper, known as FAZ, cites “informed sources” as the basis for its report. It says there are 15 to 20 “progressive thinkers” involved with the Berlin facility.

Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is pursuing the development of an automobile under the code name Project Titan. Reuters reports that Apple had hired away Jamie Carlson, a senior engineer formerly employed by Tesla Motors, along with Megan McClain of Volkswagen. It also has landed Vinay Palkkode from Carnegie Mellon University and Paul Furgale of ETH Zurich.

Autoblog reports there are a few more interesting details in the FAZ story. Allegedly, the first-gen Apple Cars might not be autonomous. It will not appear until 2019 at the earliest and it may be available first through a car sharing arrangement as well as direct sales. The most unexpected part of the FAZ report is that the car, when ready for production, will be built by Magna at its factory in Austria.

Magna is a conglomerate that makes major components for many automakers. It also builds completed cars for clients. It is presently involved in the production of the BMW i3 and certain models of the MINI. Reportedly, it would transfer the MINI business to other locations to make room for the Apple Car.

Magna CEO Don Walker told the press last year, “We are, in my opinion, the best contract manufacturer in the world. [With] our ability to do small volume niche vehicle production and help with the engineering and the launch and the procurement … we’d be a logical person for anybody if they have small volume or [are] a new entrant coming out.”

Lyle Dennis, who runs Apple Car Fans, tells AutoblogGreen he thinks the rumored German connection is true. “I suspect this is real. There have been discussions between Apple and BMW. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did build the Apple car there.” Asked to comment on the story by FAZ, Apple characteristically said it “does not comment on rumors and speculation.”

So, there really is no hard information to go on other than some unknown “informed sources.” But operating strictly on a “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” basis, there are just too many reports and rumors flying around about the Apple Car to say that nothing is going on. Something definitely is happening in Cupertino where Apple has its headquarters. Maybe some day we will find out precisely what Apple is up to behind its corporate Cone of Silence.

Source: FAZ, Autoblog Photo credit: AutoBlog