The Apple Car, or Project Titan, is acting as an arlesian in the electric car industry. Originally announced in 2015, Apple said last year it wanted to launch its autonomous car in 2025. According to a report by Bloomberg the company just hired Desi Ujkashevic, a former chief engineer at Ford, to help design the vehicle.
A veteran of many skills
After 31 years at Ford, Desi Ujkashevic will bring her expertise to Apple. Since joining the company in 1991, she has worked mainly on vehicle safety. Before leaving Ford in March 2022, she was in charge of the design of their electric cars. Both of these experiences helped make her the right person for the Apple brand.
The Californian company intends to venture into the field of the automotive industry. Like Tesla and Waymo, the automotive subsidiary of Alphabet the company 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 the development of backup devices that would prevent the malfunction of safety and automatic driving systems.
The new Project Titan engineer had spoken via her LinkedIn account last month to announce her departure from Ford and said she was ” looking forward to my new adventure and hope to continue contributing to society and improving technologies that have one goal: to make the world a better place. ”
Frequent changes in the Project Titan teams
Project Titan is falling behind schedule because of regular strategy changes and high team turnover. 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 He has since been replaced by Kevin Lynch, former head of the Apple Watch project.
Jaime Waydo, who has long worked for Waymo, helped design the Apple Car from 2018 to 2021. His departure, with no real explanation, had raised concerns about the progress of the project. Last year Apple recruited Ulrich Kranza former BMW employee and founder of Canoo, an American electric car manufacturer. Two former Tesla employees, Stuart Bowers and CJ Moore, have also joined the Titan project last year to work on the car’s software.
The recruitment of an automotive industry veteran reassures us about the state of Project Titan, which has been quiet lately. Apple understands that electric cars are a major economic and environmental issue. The Biden administration has announced a financing of several billion of dollars in this sector. Faced with entrenched competitors, Apple will not be able to rely solely on brand prestige to sell its car. Between now and 2025, Tesla, Waymo and other manufacturers will continue to improve their own vehicles.
