Apple loses third manager from 'Apple Car' in six months

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited June 2021
Robotics team leader Dave Scott has left the "Apple Car" project, marking the third major departure from the project since the start of 2021.

Concept Apple Car (by Motor Trend)
Concept Apple Car (by Motor Trend)


Officially part of Apple's SPG (Special Projects Group), Dave Scott is believed to have lead teams working on "Apple Car" robotics. He left the company in May 2021 to become president and CEO of health care company Hyperfine.

According to Bloomberg, Scott's departure is a sign of attrition at Apple's car team as it follows two other departures. However, those two both left in February.

Jaime Waydo was a senior director at Apple, and believed to be leading the company's efforts in car safety. She's now working on the same issues as Chief Technology Officer at Washington, DC-based transportation company Cavnue.

Benjamin Lyon is now Chief Engineer and Executive Vice President of Engineering at satellite company Astra. He had reportedly been one of the first members of the original "Project Titan" car project at Apple but left in February 2021.

This isn't the first time that Bloomberg has reported that departing staff is presenting problems for the "Apple Car."

In 2016, Apple did revamp its car project. Steve Zadesky, formerly of Ford and now advising Bumblebee Spaces on home robotics, originally led the team until his departure in 2016. He was replaced by former Apple executive Bob Mansfield, who had come out of retirement to run special projects for the company.

It's not known how many managers or team leaders there are on the "Apple Car" project. It has repeatedly been reported that Apple has hundreds of people working on it.

Apple has seemingly been working on the car project since at least 2014, and recently has been negotiating with other companies to manufacture a vehicle. Those discussions were confirmed by Kia and its Hyundai division in early 2021. However, these particular talks have not gone smoothly.

Some analysts have predicted that Apple will announce a partnership with an automotive company as soon as the first half of 2021. However, others expect a launch anywhere from 2025 to 2028 -- or never.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Bloomberg, always looking for the failure narrative when it comes to Apple. They do it all the time. 
    Beatspulseimagesqwerty52StrangeDayscornchipCluntBaby92macxpressKTRbyronl
  • Reply 2 of 13
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,328member
    It sure sounds like this latest departure is in the category of “pursuing a great opportunity” with another company. Moving into a position with “president and CEO” in the job title sounds like something a career minded individual would feel very good about. 

    Attrition for good reasons and on good terms is a good thing for everyone involved. It creates a professional network that extends beyond the company walls and creates opportunities for others inside the company to move up and bring new ideas to the table. There is nothing in this latest departure to suggest that this is not on a good path. 

    Finally, well run companies like Apple have contingencies in place to handle attrition, so it’s rarely more than a minor disruption to deal with it and come out of the situation in a very favorable state. New blood and an inflow of new perspectives can help keep an organization quite healthy. 
    edited June 2021 gregoriusmStrangeDaysroundaboutnowbyronl
  • Reply 3 of 13
    CuJoYYCCuJoYYC Posts: 83member
    lkrupp said:
    Bloomberg, always looking for the failure narrative when it comes to Apple. They do it all the time. 

    Wouldn't it be funny if Apple announces carOS and car at WWDC with a target delivery date of 2023? How would Bloomberg spin that as a failure? 
    qwerty52cornchip
  • Reply 4 of 13
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    lkrupp said:
    Bloomberg, always looking for the failure narrative when it comes to Apple. They do it all the time. 
    They're not the only ones and Apple's not the only target - failures often make better stories than successes.

    In related news, Uber has dumped its self driving car business and many AI experts are questioning the viability of self driving cars in general with the current technology.
    muthuk_vanalingamravnorodomcornchipmobirdelijahgexceptionhandlerbyronllkrupp
  • Reply 5 of 13
    qwerty52qwerty52 Posts: 367member
    When you are looking back over the last two decades, at the negative way Bloomberg is bringing all its news, comments and analyses over everything concerning Apple, you would doubt if Apple still exist.
    But because each year Apple is doing better and better, I am asking myself: Is it possible that the most incompetent journalists and analysts are employed by Bloomberg?
    CluntBaby92byronl
  • Reply 6 of 13
    mobirdmobird Posts: 752member
    qwerty52 said:
    I am asking myself: Is it possible that the most incompetent journalists and analysts are employed by Bloomberg?

    "This is CNN"

    /jk

    qwerty52
  • Reply 7 of 13
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    lkrupp said:
    Bloomberg, always looking for the failure narrative when it comes to Apple. They do it all the time. 
    Yup, The Guardian does the same thing. If there's something negative they can write about Apple they're all over it! 
  • Reply 8 of 13
    KTRKTR Posts: 279member
    lkrupp said:
    Bloomberg, always looking for the failure narrative when it comes to Apple. They do it all the time. 
    Every one wants to see apple fail
  • Reply 9 of 13
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    I wasn’t going to comment on the fugly car since it has been panned so many times in the past.  But now I’m coming to appreciate it more and more since it is emblematic of Apple’s inability to get its automotive act together.
  • Reply 10 of 13
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    KTR said:
    lkrupp said:
    Bloomberg, always looking for the failure narrative when it comes to Apple. They do it all the time. 
    Every one wants to see apple fail
    A whole bunch of AppleInsider forum members included. Shall we name names?
  • Reply 11 of 13
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    MplsP said:
    lkrupp said:
    Bloomberg, always looking for the failure narrative when it comes to Apple. They do it all the time. 
    They're not the only ones and Apple's not the only target - failures often make better stories than successes.

    In related news, Uber has dumped its self driving car business and many AI experts are questioning the viability of self driving cars in general with the current technology.
    I always bring up my analogy that an AI driven car would be no natch for an eighty year old grandma in her 1986 Buick Electra. Grandma would win hands down and the AI car would be in the ditch.
  • Reply 12 of 13
    looplessloopless Posts: 325member
    Making cars is hard. Every major automaker has already invested billions in electric car platforms. Apple missed the boat if they wanted to get someone to adopt their physical platform. Still some hope for carOS.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    loopless said:
    Making cars is hard. Every major automaker has already invested billions in electric car platforms. Apple missed the boat if they wanted to get someone to adopt their physical platform. Still some hope for carOS.
    What makes you think they want "someone to adopt their physical platform"? 🧐
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