Apple is working on a project called Titan, a project that implies the manufacture of an electric car, one that would directly compete with electric car manufacturer Tesla. The company has already hired several hundred specialists. The model that Apple team has in mind is a minivan. Last year, Apple hired Marc Newson, a specialist in industrial design, who is responsible for creating a concept for Ford Motor, as well as Johann Jungwirth, former president and general manager of the North American Research division for Mercedes- Benz. The size of the team involved in this project shows that Apple has big plans concerning the expansion in the automotive field.
According to analysts, Apple would bring out a car in the next five years. The car industry requires major investments, as costs of production plants can rise to billions of dollars. Accordingly, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla electric car manufacturer, said that it is very difficult to create a new car model, considering the huge necessary investments. But Apple isn’t a company that lacks money, as the Cupertino based tech giant has registered a record profit of $ 18 billion in the first quarter of 2015’s fiscal year (October-December 2014).
Last year, Google announced the entrance to the car segment, aimed at establishing partnerships with manufacturers in the automotive industry to create its own automobile in the coming years. The automotive business has a global complexity like few other industries, with regulatory, marketing and logistics issues that can trip up the capital-intense business on any given day. Apple, which designs its products in California but depends upon Asian contractors to assemble them, is used to managing an on-time supply chain around the world — something Google doesn’t do, and this can be a real advantage for the Apple initiative.
Rumors say that Apple is building a driverless car. It has long been rumored that Steve Jobs was keen to build an iCar, and Tim Cook may have taken this on. So far, Apple’s penetrated into the automotive technology by creating software that turns your dashboard into an iPhone-like computer. Called CarPlay, Apple’s in-dash technology is competing with similar facilities from Google and the automakers themselves. There’s a long road between now and when this can actually turn into a reality. There are lots of risks for Apple in trying to revolutionize a process made by Tesla years ahead, but this is an exciting announcement for Apple customers. Prepare to see long lines of people waiting to buy Apple’s next car.