Under the background of global carbon peak carbon neutrality, the world's traditional car leaders have shifted from traditional fuel vehicles to the production of electric vehicles, and the trend of intelligent development of automobiles has become more and more obvious. The so-called intelligent refers to the intelligent development of the car in various systems, such as electrification, automation, personalization, networking, etc., so that the car is no longer a single generation tool, nor is it an independent individual, but a member of the Internet, it itself has strong computing power, can process complex data, the car will become a user's mobile PC platform, so that the car provides users with more value, bringing greater convenience.
The success of Tesla, a leading electric vehicle company, has set a benchmark for the electrification and intelligence of automobiles. This allows consumer electronics companies, which have a deep accumulation of talent and software, to see a new continent and open up the electric and intelligent road of their own participating cars in different ways. Apple in the United States, Panasonic in Japan, Sony, Samsung in South Korea, LG, Baidu Huawei Xiaomi in the mainland, etc. have all entered the game. Among them, Apple's car is the most eye-catching.
Apple has achieved great success in the field of consumer electronics and has become the benchmark in the industry. After the rise of electric vehicles, in the software and hardware have a deep accumulation of technology Apple, although Apple wants to strongly intervene in the field of car manufacturing, but has been stumbling, we look at the apple car rumors that have been constantly coming out in recent years:
In 2014, Apple ambitiously developed a car-making plan code-named "Titan", planning to build a self-driving electric car around 2020, competing with Tesla and other car companies.
At the end of 2015, sharp disagreements broke out within Titan's project department on strategic direction.
In January 2016, project leader Steve Zadesky stepped down, while hundreds of project members resigned, were transferred or fired.
In July 2016, Apple rehired Bob Mansfield, a retired former senior vice president of hardware engineering, to lead Project Titan, reimagining the direction of the automotive business.
In 2017, Apple conducted large-scale self-driving car tests.
In August 2018, Doug Field, former vice president of hardware engineering at Apple and senior vice president of vehicle engineering at Tesla, returned to Apple as vice president of special projects.
In January 2019, Field restructured the Titan project, laying off nearly 200 employees. Meanwhile, Tesla Vice President of Engineering Michael Schwekutsch and Steve MacManus have joined the Titan Program.
In January 2021, it was rumored that Apple contacted a number of South Korean and Japanese cars to discuss cooperation in electric vehicles, aiming to produce Apple cars in the United States from 2024, with an initial annual production of 100,000 vehicles and eventually 400,000 vehicles.
In September 2021, the Titan project changed again, with Doug Field leaving Apple to join Ford.
In 2022, Benjamin Lyon, senior director of Apple's special projects department, as well as Dave Scott, who led the automotive robotics research, and Jaime Waydo, who is responsible for automotive safety and regulations, left Apple's special projects division in total.
In March 2022, it was revealed in the industry that the Apple car team had been disbanded for a while. Apple Cars will be put into production in 2024 and will be in vain again.
Compared with the fate of Apple's car manufacturing, Huawei has adopted a strategy of focusing only on automotive ICT technology, making Huawei's "car-making" progress much smoother. At present, Huawei has cooperated with BAIC, GAC, Changan, Dongfeng Xiaokang and other car companies to launch a number of models such as Cyrus SF5, Polar Fox Alpha S, and Q&I M5. The latest in-depth cooperation between Xilix and Huawei has launched a new high-end intelligent car brand - AITO, which has a warm market response and is expected to achieve good sales.
When it comes to the transformation of consumer electronics companies to build cars, we have to mention LeTV's Jia Yueting. The "superstar" who threw off huge debts and ran away from the United States to build cars announced at the end of February this year that Faraday's first FF 91 quasi-production car in the future was officially rolled off the production line. It sells for $280,000 in the U.S. and as much as $2.8 million in China. If FF91 can be recognized by the market, It is really possible for Boss Jia to achieve "returning to China next week".