(Reuters) — Apple Inc(AAPL.O) has hired Ulrich Kranz, a former senior executive at BMW AG’s electric car division, to help its vehicle initiatives, Apple confirmed on Thursday.
Kranz, who was most recently the chief executive of electric vehicle startup Canoo Inc (GOEV.O), will report to Apple veteran Doug Field, who led development of Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) mass-market Model 3 and now runs Apple’s car project, the report said. Bloomberg reported the news earlier on Thursday.
The iPhone maker’s automotive efforts, known as Project Titan, have proceeded unevenly since 2014 when Apple first started designing its own vehicle from scratch.
In December, Reuters reported that Apple was moving forward with its self-driving car technology and targeting to produce a passenger vehicle that could include its own breakthrough battery technology by 2024.
