Around 2,000 people worked on the development of the electric car. They were surprised to learn that the project would gradually end and that some of them would move to the AI division. Several hundred hardware engineers and automotive designers work in the team. It is possible that they will be able to apply for jobs in other departments of the company. Apparently there will be layoffs, but it is not clear to what extent, according to Bloomberg.
The company invested billions of dollars in a project that would move it into a completely new industry. The original goal was to create a fully autonomous electric car with a limousine-like interior and voice-controlled navigation. However, the project ran into problems almost from the start, and Apple changed team leadership and strategy several times.
The decision to terminate it was made by the company’s management in recent weeks. The Bloomberg agency wrote a month ago that the project had reached a critical point. The latest internally discussed approach was to delay the car’s launch until 2028 and reduce the car’s level of autonomy from level four to level two plus. There are six levels of autonomous vehicles – from zero to five. The most advanced is a fully autonomous car.
Last time, the company thought that the price of the car would be around 100,000 dollars (CZK 2.3 million). However, management was concerned about whether the vehicle would be able to deliver the profit margins that Apple typically achieves on its products.
Some investors were relieved by the news. Apple shares erased losses and rallied after the announcement. Around 21:35 CET they claimed 0.7 percent.
