Ford poaches executive leading the 'Apple Car' project
Ford has confirmed that it is hiring Apple executive Doug Field, who was thought to be working on the "Apple Car," to serve as an advanced technology officer for the automaker.
Credit: AppleInsider
The automaker is bringing Field on to serve as its advanced technology and embedded systems officer, Ford said in a statement Tuesday. Field previously worked at Apple and Tesla.
"Doug is one of the world's most respected engineering and product design leaders and has been a driving force behind breakthrough products across auto, tech and mobility, including at Apple, Tesla and Segway," Ford CEO Jim Farley said.
Field started his career at an engineer at Ford. During his first stint at Apple, the executive worked on Mac hardware for years before departing the Cupertino tech giant to work at Tesla, where he played a pivotal role in launching the Model 3.
After five years at Tesla, Field returned to Apple to reportedly work on "Project Titan" -- Apple's secretive self-driving car initiative. Losing Field is a blow to the project, which has undergone several restructurings and staff layoffs since its inception around 2014.
According to Bloomberg, some Apple engineers who are currently working on the "Apple Car" believe that the company could release a product in five to seven years.
Rumors of an Apple-branded vehicle picked up momentum earlier in 2021 when the company was said to be in talks with Korean automakers. Although those discussions eventually fizzled out, there are still indications that Apple is continuing some type of vehicular technology development.
Back in August, Apple was said to be negotiating with Korea-based manufacturers of electric vehicle components. The company has also expanded its fleet of self-driving test vehicles that are being operated on public California roads.
On Friday, a mysterious company thought to be linked to Apple also purchased a former Chrysler proving ground in Arizona. That site has previously been used by Apple for vehicle testing, reports suggest.
Read on AppleInsider
Credit: AppleInsider
The automaker is bringing Field on to serve as its advanced technology and embedded systems officer, Ford said in a statement Tuesday. Field previously worked at Apple and Tesla.
"Doug is one of the world's most respected engineering and product design leaders and has been a driving force behind breakthrough products across auto, tech and mobility, including at Apple, Tesla and Segway," Ford CEO Jim Farley said.
Field started his career at an engineer at Ford. During his first stint at Apple, the executive worked on Mac hardware for years before departing the Cupertino tech giant to work at Tesla, where he played a pivotal role in launching the Model 3.
After five years at Tesla, Field returned to Apple to reportedly work on "Project Titan" -- Apple's secretive self-driving car initiative. Losing Field is a blow to the project, which has undergone several restructurings and staff layoffs since its inception around 2014.
According to Bloomberg, some Apple engineers who are currently working on the "Apple Car" believe that the company could release a product in five to seven years.
Rumors of an Apple-branded vehicle picked up momentum earlier in 2021 when the company was said to be in talks with Korean automakers. Although those discussions eventually fizzled out, there are still indications that Apple is continuing some type of vehicular technology development.
Back in August, Apple was said to be negotiating with Korea-based manufacturers of electric vehicle components. The company has also expanded its fleet of self-driving test vehicles that are being operated on public California roads.
On Friday, a mysterious company thought to be linked to Apple also purchased a former Chrysler proving ground in Arizona. That site has previously been used by Apple for vehicle testing, reports suggest.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
The Tesla Roadster was based on the chassis of the Lotus Elite. Even today, Tesla lags the "dinosaurs" of the industry in design, build quality, and service, and frankly, is getting crushed by VW in the EU, a rather large and competitive market.
AFAICT, Apple did in fact "start from scratch" some years ago, and has the most necessary ingredient for successfully building a modern automobile; cash. Not a guarantee of success, but lack of it, is a guarantee of failure.
The Mustang Mach E and F-150 Lightning shows Ford is off to a good start with EVs.
Regarding a comment concerning VW, the UI on VW EVs is horrible. The UI is slow, laggy and not well designed. The I.D. 4 is a decent, but not great car and uses the same foundation as the ID.3. And yes Tesla quality and reliability are questionable - Tesla is trying to suppress data reporting on their cars quality and reliability.
I personally still think Apple would be better off developing a SW/HW package that could be sold to automakers rather than making cars outright. Anybody who has extensively shopped for a car knows that most touchscreen and capacitance interface stuff is awful. No touch anything will ever be as good as a hardware switch.
they probably made him a FAT offer.
I could be wrong, of course.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-02/morgan-stanley-says-ford-google-deal-may-yield-5-billion-profit