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If Ford repeats the Mach-E: style and e-performance across the rest of their model line, it's a WIN.
 
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I seriously doubt actual car makers are worried about a computer company disrupting their market. What exactly is Apple working on? This is vapor ware right now.
They should be worried. You forget how strong the Apple ecosystem can be.

And also, this project was rumored to take a long time to develop from the very beginning
 
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Gurman seems to be pulling the drama cord a little too tightly in those Tweets.

Very doubtful this one person would sink the entire project, at least IMO.
I think Gurman is frustrated more people aren’t taking him seriously when he tells every one for the upteenth time that the Apple car is still far in the distance ahead. He’s been shutting down 2022-2025 rumors left and right as of late. Maybe he’s hoping some dramatics will help it sink in. I agree that one person isn’t going to break the project. No one is irreplaceable, as they say.
 
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Gurman seems to be pulling the drama cord a little too tightly in those Tweets.

Very doubtful this one person would sink the entire project, at least IMO.
I think his point is, if the car was about to arrive in the next year or 3, then there is no way an exec would jump ship this close to glory. Unless, that is, he knows it will be an embarrassing lemon.
 
People in important positions generally don’t jump ship at the drop of a hat (unless they are pushed). I’m guessing he gave notice with plenty of time to transition to new leadership.

Besides, didn’t the head of Foxconn says an EV is “an iPhone with four wheels”?
 
If you need car anytime soon, get a Tesla…

I was worried when Apple was rumored to be talking to Toyota, who has gone absolutely nowhere with EVs

Not a bad move by Toyota. Toyota I’m sure is planning for the future. Right now EVs are a niche market. Battery range. Charging access. Slow charging. Etc. No doubt it will improve in the future.

It’s funny to hear my friend with his Tesla tell me his “battery anxiety” stories he gets around town. And how on his trips to Vegas from LA he’s gotta wait over an hour at Primms Tesla station to get enough juice to make it to Vegas.

Until it’s ready for prime time my Prius does the job fine. Yea that’s right people. I have a Prius!
 
I think Gurman is frustrated more people aren’t taking him seriously when he tells every one for the upteenth time that the Apple car is still far in the distance ahead. He’s been shutting down 2022-2025 rumors left and right as of late. Maybe he’s hoping some dramatics will help it sink in. I agree that one person isn’t going to break the project. No one is irreplaceable, as they say.
Nobody credible thinks it will be anytime soon. Kuo believes 2025 to 2027 at the earliest.

Every year, there seems to be a major change in project leadership. Leading the Apple Car project right now is a VP that specializes in machine learning and AI. Gurman and Kuo are right to be doubtful.
 
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Some people switch companies because that is the only way to "fire your boss." You get tied of the direction your boss takes and want to do different. Of course you can't technically fire Tim Cook if you work for him but you CAN move and work at a company that actually does make and sell cars.

Think about if you wanted to design and build cars, were hired to do that and then the boss decides they would rather contract the actual making of the cars to Toyota (or Kia) and just put on Apple logos, Apple colors and Apple entertainment systems.

But you know 100% for sure that Ford will actually make cars.
 
Where’s the Samsung car already? Usually when a rumor is going this hard, Samsung jumps the gun and tries to get there first
 
So I'm thinking a little more about this.

This guy is/was a "special projects" VP. I assume that means more than just the car, right?
 
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Safest bet, we won’t see an Apple Car until 2030 or 2035. It’s a difficult project not because it’s a car but the differentiation and value add. Apple wants this to be a vehicle that makes you not even think about the competition. What that might be? I don’t know, but their work is cut out for them.
 
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Sounds like he wasn’t that good for the company if he bounces around so much. Looks like he’ll change jobs at the drop of a higher paycheck… what is his legacy exactly if he’s only touched a given project for 3 years tops?
you could say the same for jim keller, he bounced around like crazy too from apple, tesla, amd, intel.
 
Can't blame him if he really wants to work on cars. Ford's got what Apple doesn't and that's actual vehicles rolling off an assembly line including models that go head to head with Tesla. The Mach E is already on sale and has great reviews. The F-150 Lightning is following right behind and that will be a BEV game changer. They are real products. That beats Apple's AirPower car.
 
Not good. He must have been offered an excellent compensation at Ford to make the move.
Yeah, that move to Michigan is probably going to cost them dearly.
Not bad either, LOL. People come and go – one person does not a project make.
This is true, and sometimes, it's good for a project for the "big guy" to leave. It lets others have a chance to step up.
they probably paid him enough to share all the secrets.
Well if he shares secrets, then I hope it also pays enough to compensate him for all the time he'll spend in courtrooms and in jail for breaking NDAs and sensitive information agreements! Because if it's one thing that Apple will pay up for, it's legal representation.
I hope Apple stay the course and introduce a full  vehicle, instead of falling back to just producing an OS to run one.

Human transportation would benefit greatly from Apple's influence and competition.
I agree. Detroit always (and I do mean ALWAYS) starts slipping and making bad (and even dangerous!) vehicles whenever they think they have no competition.
Sounds like he wasn’t that good for the company if he bounces around so much. Looks like he’ll change jobs at the drop of a higher paycheck… what is his legacy exactly if he’s only touched a given project for 3 years tops?
This is not your grandpappy's economy. People change jobs a lot more often. Companies won't show loyalty to employees.

After all, most companies EXPECT most employees to change jobs every 3 to 5 years and managers to change jobs or companies every 3 to five years anyway, so why should employees show undying loyalty to the companies they work for?
Given the short time frame of 3 years, he probably saw a stagnant project and decided to jump ship.

At his level, money likely isn't the primary motivator, but rather intrinsic motivation. It's doing challenging projects that you enjoy and the satisfaction seeing those projects come through.
This is probably right on target.
That would land him in court. No company, least of all Apple, wants their former employees to reveal trade secrets. He would have had to sign a confidentiality agreement that bars exactly that situation.
Yep, you said it.
He was at Segway for 9 years. Apple for 5 years. Tesla for 5 years.

You're wrong about the paycheck. Some really outstanding engineers don't stay if they don't see a challenge. Jim Keller is one of the legends that designed A4/A5. He jumped between AMD, P.A. Semi, Apple, Tesla, and Intel.
Right. At some level, it's not about the money. It's about the challenge and the opportunity to make not just a difference, but a HUGE wave of change.
 
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Many others like Google/Alphabet have the chance to establish an outstanding automized e-car – Apple should concentrate on other topics of competence.

Google Maps is far more better performing than Apple Maps and this is one key stone for a success in developing a new e-car whatever size it will have.

The established car industry like Toyota, VW or Ford, Fiat/Chrysler will never accept a leadership of Apple in computing their new e-car generations – NEVER!
The established phone industry like Nokia, Motorola, or BlackBerry will never accept a leadership of Apple...
 
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**** Ford. They threw a tantrum when nobody wanted a Chinese built Focus and decided to bet the farm on selling grossly oversized garbage suvs.

Then they pissed over the Mustang by making it an SUV and moving production from Dearborn to ****ing Guadalajara.

And on their commercials they have the gall to say “made for America” blatantly skirting the fact that they make every attempt to move production outside America.

Buy a ****in Tesla if you want an electric car, if you want a gas vehicle buy a Toyota.
 
Or just decent treatment as employee and privacy.
Could be, but maybe not likely at his level.
This is a really crushing blow for those of us who are hungering for a privacy-focused self-driving car powered by Apple Maps and Siri.
Maybe not as privacy-focused as it once was. Time will tell.
Staying with one company for your entire career is complacent.
Not necessarily. But sometimes leaving is the right thing to do.
I'm just hoping Ford still puts the Godzilla V8 in a Mustang and if I am dreaming supercharge it with a factory H pipe and racing cams.
Probably not gonna happen with President Biden in office.

Go ahead, do a couple of Google searches. You'll see that the President wants to push out gas powered vehicles by 2030. That's only a little more than 8 years away from today.

It would be foolish at this point for any car manufacturer to even be MAKING a V8 of any kind, let alone a "Godzilla V8 in a Mustang with a supercharger".
Not a bad move by Toyota. Toyota I’m sure is planning for the future.
Toyota is ALWAYS planning for the future. They began working on the first Prius in the early 1990s (they knew the batteries and computers would need the most work), announced it to the public in 1995, and put it on sale in Japan in 1997.

That right there is some far-sighted reading of the tea leaves.
Right now EVs are a niche market. Battery range. Charging access. Slow charging. Etc. No doubt it will improve in the future.
Not so much of a niche market here and now in a time of Covid and working from home. But your point is well made.
It’s funny to hear my friend with his Tesla tell me his “battery anxiety” stories he gets around town.
I didn't know that "battery anxiety" was a thing, but I guess it would be.
And how on his trips to Vegas from LA he’s gotta wait over an hour at Primms Tesla station to get enough juice to make it to Vegas.
I would totally despise having to sit at a charger on a long trip.
Until it’s ready for prime time my Prius does the job fine. Yea that’s right people. I have a Prius!
Prius is great. You should buy another one! I really think you need at least two of them in different colors. ;)
Some people switch companies because that is the only way to "fire your boss." You get tied of the direction your boss takes and want to do different. Of course you can't technically fire Tim Cook if you work for him but you CAN move and work at a company that actually does make and sell cars.

Think about if you wanted to design and build cars, were hired to do that and then the boss decides they would rather contract the actual making of the cars to Toyota (or Kia) and just put on Apple logos, Apple colors and Apple entertainment systems.

But you know 100% for sure that Ford will actually make cars.
Yep, totally on point.
Companies do at times “let people go” at his tier - amicably- that aren’t necessarily “producing”. Instead of, “now the Apple car is doomed”, his tenure may have been part of the problem, and a sign of a coming shift.
That could have happened, but after just 3 years, maybe not so much. I like the alternative explanation above.
 
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