Steve Zadesky's 16-year career with Apple has come to an end. Zadesky, who is Apple Inc.'s Vice President for iPod and iPhone Product Design, has also been viewed as the key figure in Apple's plans of going into the automotive industry. This Apple car project is purportedly called "Project Titan."
According to Wall Street Journal, Zadesky has lead the Apple car project for the past two years. Zadesky is now leaving Apple Inc. citing personal reasons. Stuff reports that Apple is initially pushing for an electric model of the Apple car.
The self-driving, automated Apple car model will eventually follow. The 600-man team has apparently been struggling to meet these targets with no clear direction on hand coupled with supposedly ambitious timeframes.
An earlier report said that the race for delivering the Apple car is pegged against Elon Musk's Tesla Motors Inc. delivery of their own electric cars. Tesla Motors Inc. is looking to get this model to their consumers on an optimistic delivery target of 2017.
With all the news of "Project Titan" and Apple car development, many might recall Apple CEO Tim Cook going on "60 Minutes" a few weeks ago. According to CBS News, the Apple CEO was asked by journalist Charlie Rose point-blank about the existence of activities in Apple Inc. geared toward developing the Apple car.
"How hard is it to say Apple will be in the car business," Rose asked. "But OK, how hard is it to say yes we've done this, we're looking it, we may very well go there, how hard is that?"
Although Cook dodged the question with practiced dexterity, his answer was not exactly a categorical denial, "One of the great things about Apple is probably have more secrecy here than the CIA."
The Week reports that Tesla Motors Inc. leader Elon Musk himself termed Apple's involvement in the automotive sector an "open secret."
