Apple has hired Ulrich Kranz, who ran the development teams for the BMW i3 and i8 and co-founded self-driving electric vehicle startup Canoo
- Ulrich Kranz also co-founded autonomous auto startup Canoo — Apple is in early stages of building self-driving vehicle
BloombergMark Gurman
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple had already assembled automotive expertise through earlier Mercedes-Benz R&D hires, while its vehicle effort later shifted toward autonomous-driving software without abandoning its own-car ambitions. Kranz joins at the intersection of those tracks: vehicle development experience and a Canoo connection.
Apple adds an executive with BMW i3 and i8 development leadership and Canoo founding experience to an early-stage self-driving vehicle effort.
Canoo becomes directly linked to Apple's car program through a co-founder, after Apple had explored its EV platform.
Second-order effects
Apple can build more vehicle-development capability internally rather than relying solely on external platform discussions such as its Canoo talks.
Automotive suppliers and prospective engineering recruits face an Apple project that is combining autonomous-driving software work with senior EV and vehicle-dynamics talent.
Third-order effects
If Apple continues recruiting across automakers and EV startups, its car effort is likely to be organized around owning both the vehicle program and the autonomous-driving stack rather than choosing only one.
The pattern would intensify competition for the small pool of executives able to bridge established vehicle engineering and startup EV platforms.
The trend: Apple's vehicle initiative is evolving from an autonomy-software pivot into a broader in-house effort to assemble both EV hardware and self-driving expertise.
Two of the ugliest EVs in history and two EV startups that have almost nothing to show for themselves? I guess you gotta start somewhere... https://twitter.com/...
@Techmeme @markgurman One nice thing about being as cash-rich as Apple is you can drop a billion or two on a speculative R&D project just to see if it's worth doing. Hiring the top expert in the world on something is couch-cushion money to Tim Cook.
The i3 is admittedly the most Apple-looking car ever designed. Unapologetically bold form factor, super innovative packaging, hilarious overpriced, and compromised in almost every meaningful way for long-term use.
New story: Apple has hired Ulrich Kranz to help lead its work on an electric car. He ran development of the BMW i3 and i8, was co-founder and CEO of car startup Canoo, and was briefly CTO of Faraday Future. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Like the “Apple Television” rumors that ran for a decade and all turned out to be false, so has been the history of every single “Apple Car” rumor. Can't wait for the inevitable “Ulrich has also departed the ‘Project Titan’ team” stories. https://twitter.com/...
“Apple hired Kranz in recent weeks, ...Before co-founding Canoo, Kranz was senior vice president of the group that developed the i3 and i8 cars at BMW” —Rubs hands vigorously.
of those ventures. 2 shipped, one was vaguely successful, 1 has been investigated for fraud and had multiple CEOs and the last is just a bit all over the place. https://twitter.com/...
Kranz is one of Apple's most significant automotive hires, a clear sign that the iPhone maker is determined to build a self-driving electric car to rival Tesla Inc. and other carmakers. https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @technology
🍏🚗🍦: @Apple Hires Former @BMW Executive Ulrich Kranz For its Rebooted Car Project. Kranz Also Co-Founded @canoo, a developer of self-driving electric vehicles. $AAPL @markgurman https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @technology