As of: March 1, 2024, 10:16 a.m
By: Patrick Freiwah
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Most recently, Apple was testing technologies for its first car at high speed.
Now, however, the dream of fully autonomous driving has shattered.
The backgrounds.
Cupertino/Munich - Things had been quiet about Apple's first car for a long time.
However, the suddenly announced end of the “Titan” project also came as a surprise to many experts: As an analysis of data shows, the technology giant from California has noticeably advanced the development of the “Apple Car” in 2023.
According to
Handelsblatt
, Apple had significantly increased the tests on the traffic routes around the company headquarters.
The number of kilometers traveled by Apple vehicles rose to around 730,000 in 2023, which corresponds to an increase of more than three times compared to the same period last year.
Apple car failed: Disillusionment with autonomous driving
But the venture to create its own Apple car was suddenly put on hold.
One of the main reasons for the failure of the “Titan” project is the dream of autonomous driving: despite its enormous technological expertise, Apple was not immune to setbacks in this test field - which meant that the targeted market launch in 2026 was once again in danger.
According to
Bloomberg,
disillusionment has set in, particularly when it comes to the realization of a self-driving car.
The portal cites insider sources according to which expectations have been steadily scaled back: Level 4 or even 5 autonomous driving with the Apple car cannot be implemented in the foreseeable future.
Tesla has also suffered repeated setbacks in this regard and there is no indication that the technology will be ready for the market.
According to a newspaper report in the NY Times,
Apple
spent over ten billion US dollars on the abandoned car plans.
The iPhone company informed its approximately 2,000 employees this week that it was discontinuing the project.
The technology group started development around a decade ago.
Numerous employees of the “Titan” project now have to look for new jobs, while other programmers are supposed to develop software with artificial intelligence instead.
Apple recently undertook more test drives than ever in its native California.
However, the tech company has apparently said goodbye to fully autonomous driving (symbolic image) © IMAGO / Pond5 Images
Apple and the self-driving car: BMW, Mercedes and Co. can breathe a sigh of relief
Previously, reports had been circulating for years about the company that had revolutionized the smartphone sector and become one of the most valuable providers in the world planning to launch its first Apple car.
Industry experts described the market prospects as excellent, given Apple's expertise in design management, digital technologies and the ability to ensure brand loyalty for a broad customer base despite high-priced products.
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The car plans of the extremely rich Apple empire were also seen as a nightmare for well-known automobile companies, which would probably have to fear major sales losses.
In this regard, premium brands such as BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Tesla can now breathe a sigh of relief.
Portals like the
Wall Street Journal
report that the sudden end of the first Apple car came as a surprise to most employees.
The decision, despite massive investments, was recently made at a meeting of the board of directors led by CEO Tim Cook.
Apple is burying its car ambitions and dream of fully autonomous driving
Apple has found its way into modern vehicles even without your own car: the Apple CarPlay interface links the smartphone with the control software in order to access the functions of the mobile device.
However, the American company had been researching the possibilities of its own vehicle for years and hired specialists from car companies to develop it in order to realize the vision of the “iCar”.
Another reason for Apple's decision is that huge Internet companies such as Alphabet (Google) and Amazon also invest a lot of effort in research.
Apart from that, it is questionable whether Apple can generate similar margins by selling its own car as is the case with smartphones and other devices:
The tech group is used to an operating margin of 30 percent, but in the automotive industry such values are utopian: manufacturers like Tesla or Volkswagen do not have ten percent, while the leader, according to
Handelsblatt
, is Ferrari with at least 24 percent.
In addition, there is another component that thwarted the plans for an Apple electric car: The USA is probably softening its goals for the drive transition away from combustion engine models.
(PF)