At the beginning of 2015, the first concrete reports emerged that Apple wants to spend many billions of dollars and develop its own vehicle. In view of the scope of such a project, it was hardly possible to keep the entire development secret – especially since test vehicles have to be registered and there are therefore always publicly available documents. in the new book “After Steve”, written by NYT journalist Tripp Mickle, is also regarding the birth of the idea of venturing into a whole new market. Of course, mind games had existed for a long time, since 2008 there have been corresponding ones The episode, and the former chief designer Jony Ive have had different ideas since then. To demonstrate this, Ive invited the Apple CEO to a simulated test drive of his Siri car.
A speaker took on the role of language assistant and commented on the tour. Ive asked various questions, such as places or restaurants that just passed by. The concept was to allow operation and communication to take place via Siri – and to implement the project in a comparatively short time. After only four to five years, it should be on the streets, according to his assessment. The engineers, on the other hand, were already quite clear at the time that this was a fictional concept and that development might not progress as quickly. As it turned out very quickly, the envisaged year (2019) was actually not tenable, meanwhile most reports are more likely to assume 2025.
Ford veteran now working at Apple
Many personnel decisions also show that Apple is still working intensively on the Apple Car. So succeeded nowto poach a veteran from Ford who had 31 years of experience there. Vehicle safety was one of Desi Ujkashevic’s responsibilities and her most recent title was “Global Director of Automotive Safety Engineering”. Previously, she led teams from the areas of interior, exterior, electrical components and chassis design. In the Ford portfolio, Ujkashevic was involved in the development of the Escape (in this country: Kuga), Explorer, Fiesta and Focus models – she was also involved in projects for electrically powered vehicles.
Apple remains true to its personnel policy of poaching long-standing managers from well-known car manufacturers in particular. Ever since the car ambitions became known, Apple had been able to attract many prominent representatives of the industry – although reports made the rounds that they were looking for other tasks once more following not too long. Some examples include former project leaders Doug Field (2021), Steve Zadesky (2016), and Chris Porritt (2016), as well as numerous second-tier managers. Allegedly, the management of the department was completely reorganized not too long ago, according to one Message.
