Apple’s current team of car executives takes another hit to its current project. This time, the head of software engineering program management Joe Bass leaves the team for a role in Meta (previously Facebook).
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported this in the latest installment of his Apple-focused weekly newsletter “Power On”. Bass was the last one in the Apple car management team placed a year ago, with his departure, the entire team is now gone.
Last year, top executives like Dave Scott, Jaime Waydo, Dave Rosenthal, and Benjamin Lyon left the team. Head of the Special Projects Group team, Doug Field, left to join Ford Motors. Dr. Michael Schwekutsch (hardware in charge of the project) also left in November 2021.
More than a hundred of Apple’s employees left the company to join Meta Platforms Inc over the past year. Apple is also offering bonuses of up to $180,000 to retain the top talent in its company due to the recent departures.
This year will be a make-or-break year for Apple if it wants to launch its fully autonomous vehicle by 2025. This project started in 2014 under Steve Zadesky, a former Ford Engineer. Kevin Lynch (VP, Technology) is currently leading the Apple Car project.
Earlier this month, Korean reports noted that Apple is readying to name the Apple Car manufacturer, with the company sending a team to South Korea to enter negotiations with car suppliers and focusing on providing essential parts and components for the electric vehicle.
In this week’s “Power On” newsletter, Mark Gurman also said that Apple would launch the “widest array” of products this year. That would include four new iPhones, five macs, three Apple Watches, and many more. You can check more about that here.
