While there had never been official confirmation that it existed in the first place, reports abounded that Apple was planning and developing their own car. But now Bloomberg is reporting that the plan to take on established automakers is done.
The first major report was in September last year when the Wall Steet Journal cited “people familiar with the matter” as naming the project "Titan" and reporting Apple was tripling their team of 600 people to meet target dates for their own car. Many of those were recruited from automakers or tech companies which were more involved in the auto industry. Apple CEO Tim Cook had even visited BMW i3 production facilities on multiple occasions, sparking speculation that the German automaker would handle production or provide platform sharing.
Today's report from Bloomberg suggests that the plan has been scaled back in a major way. That hundreds of team members have either left, been reassigned, or let go. The new goal is, according to "people familiar with the project," to develop autonomous systems and software instead of a stand-alone Apple car. Moving to mobility solutions and software such as further smartphone integration would give the company flexibility and the ability to work with more than one automaker, increasing sales potential. It is also safer way to enter the industry than taking on the long and often painful task of launching a new automaker. A monumental task that needs to hold up to the expectation consumers have for Apple of reliability and quality.
