The Apple Car, or Titan project, acts as an Arlesian in the electric car sector. Originally announced in 2015, Apple said last year it wanted to launch its self-driving car in 2025. According to information from Bloombergthe company has just recruited Desi Ujkashevic, former chief engineer at Ford, to help design the vehicle.
A multi-talented veteran
After 31 years at Ford, Desi Ujkashevic will bring his expertise to Apple. Since joining the manufacturer in 1991, she has mainly worked on vehicle safety. Before leaving Ford, in March 2022, she was in charge of the design of their electric cars. These two experiences helped make him the ideal person for the Apple brand.
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The Californian company intends to venture into the field of the automotive industry. Like Tesla and Waymo, the automotive subsidiary of Alphabet, it wants to offer an autonomous vehicle. Faced with the risk of accidents, the recruitment of Ujkashevic is a major safety asset for the Titan project. The new Apple employee will work on developing back-up devices that would prevent safety and automatic driving systems from malfunctioning.
The new Project Titan engineer spoke last month via her LinkedIn account to announce her departure from Ford and said she was ” can’t wait to start my new adventure and I hope to continue contributing to society and improving technologies that have one goal: to make the world a better place. »
Frequent changes in the teams of the Titan project
The Titan project is falling behind because of regular changes in strategy and high turnover within the team. Doug Field was the first person responsible for the project, but left the company last September to join Ford. He has since been replaced by former Apple Watch project manager Kevin Lynch.
Jaime Waydo, who worked for Waymo for a long time, helped design the Apple Car from 2018 to 2021. His departure, without any real explanation, had raised concerns about the progress of the project. Last year Apple recruited Ulrich Kranz, formerly of BMW and founder of Canoo, an American automaker of electric cars. Two ex-Tesla employees, Stuart Bowers and CJ Moore, also joined Project Titan last year to work on software for the car.
The recruitment of a veteran of the automotive industry reassures on the state of the Titan project which has been discreet lately. Apple has understood that electric cars are a major economic and ecological issue. The Biden administration has also announced funding of several billion dollars in this sector. Faced with competitors already well established, Apple will not be able to rely solely on the prestige of the brand to sell its car. By 2025, Tesla, Waymo and other manufacturers will continue to improve their own vehicles.