South Korea’s Mainichi Business News quoted a source as saying that Apple will accelerate its independent production of electric vehicles on the Project Titan, and has issued a request for quotations to global auto parts manufacturers. It may hint that Apple will soon select auto parts partners for its electric cars.
After negotiating with automakers has not made significant progress, Apple will also restart the car research and development laboratory and start Apple Car development work. The source pointed out that the restart of the laboratory may mean that Apple’s automotive strategy has shifted to the independent development of a complete car, rather than just focusing on the software level.
In June of this year, Apple hired Ulrich Kranz (Ulrich Kranz), the former vice president of BMW’s electric vehicle division, and the Project Titan opened a new chapter. Bloomberg also said that this is a clear signal of Apple’s decision to build unmanned electric cars and face Tesla and other rivals.
Industry insiders believe that Apple can develop electric cars on its own, but it may also look for contract manufacturers like iPhones. Earlier this month, there were media reports that Apple visited LG Electronics and SK Innovation and would secretly develop cars with SK Innovation.
Apple launched the Titan Project in 2014 and has been seeking partners for its smart cars since 2016. However, previous revelations have proved that Apple is only testing the autonomous driving function, and it seems that it has nothing to do with building cars.
