Apple, Inc.'s NASDAQ: AAPL self-driving car project, named Project Titan, has been a non-starter due to multiple issues. The team saw a mass exodus of executive talent, which is apparently a reflection of the long overdue nature of the plan.
Bass joined Meta Platform, Inc. in January as the Director of Technical Project Management at Mixed Reality Technologies. He was with Apple for seven years before moving on.
With Bass leaving, the entire Apple Car executive team from a year ago has departed, according to Gurman. Dave Scott, Jaime Waydo, Dave Rosenthal and Benjamin Lyon all left in early 2021, followed by Doug Feld, head of the Apple Car project, in September and Michael Schwekutsch thereafter, according to the tech writer.
Apple has lost several engineers from the team.
The project is headed by Kevin Lynch and he has his work cut out for him. According to Bloomberg, Apple is looking to design an EV that can be a true self-driving vehicle and not merely match the existing EV lineups of incumbents.
Gurman sees 2022 as the make-or-break year for the Apple Car project. The company has set a target of four years for developing a self-driving car, rather than the previous estimate for a seven-year timeframe, according to Bloomberg previously reported.
Why is it important to know that analysts are optimistic about the success of the Apple Car and its potential contribution to the overall business.
Gene Munster, the Managing Partner of Loup Funds, believes that Apple can succeed with its self-driving car project, because it is one of the few companies that consistently delivers excellent hardware software services.
If Apple captures 10% of the global auto market and investors value auto revenue similar to how they currently value its revenues, the Apple Car alone could add $3 trillion to the company's current valuation, the analyst said.
Cupertino needs to iron out all the wrinkles associated with the Apple Car project, including potential partnerships, technology and team, in order for the tech giant to drive smoothly toward success with this product.
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