Apple’s car chief Doug Field has been poached by Ford, putting the iPhone maker’s car project in a limbo once again. The Apple Car project which was previously internally titled as ‘Project Titan’ has been in the works for almost eight years now.However, the noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities has reported earlier this year that the ‘Apple Car’ will launch sometime in 2025.
“Field will lead Ford’s efforts to develop the next-gen Blue Oval Intelligence tech stack to deliver smart, connected vehicles and services that improve over time through constant updates,” read Ford’s press release. Ex-Apple car chief, Doug Field will report directly to Ford’s CEO and president, Jim Farley.
Field’s movements: Back and forth!
While Apple never confirmed the existence of its car project, it was apparent by reports from several noted analysts that such a project existed. The ex-car chief, Doug Field, who has now left Apple was actually the Vice President (VP) of special projects at the company officially. In the past, he led the Mac hardware engineering team before leaving the company in 2013. He then joined Tesla to take the role of chief vehicle engineer but then left the car maker in 2018 to join Apple once again. He has once again left Apple.
“We’re grateful for the contributions Doug has made to Apple and we wish him all the best in this next chapter,” said an Apple spokesperson in a statement to The Verge. The big question now is who will take Field’s place at Apple. The closest replacement could be Ulrich Kranz, who the iPhone maker hired earlier this year in June. Kranz previously worked at BMW on i3 EV and i8 hybrid sports car models.
In December 2020, it was reported that the Apple Car project was moved to be overseen by the company’s SVP of Machine Learning and AI, John Giannandrea.
