Apple Nabs Ford Exec Of 31 Years To Aid Development Of Their Electric Car

Apple’s rumored electric vehicle project, codenamed “Project Titan“, has been up in the air for quite some time now, but it now appears to be gaining more traction every passing day. The latest step in that saga comes from the tech giant poaching a longtime executive of Ford, likely in a move to further accelerate vehicle development.

Desi Ujkashevic worked at Ford for over three decades, and over the years, she’s been responsible for overseeing the engineering of exterior, interior, and chassis, and electrical components for various Ford vehicles. Most recently, she served as Ford’s Global Director of Automotive Safety Engineering, a position that, according to the company, covered the scope of autonomous vehicle safety systems.

Desi Ujkashevic – photo Ford

That’s critical for the development of Apple‘s Project Titan, as the company recently announced a heavy focus on fully autonomous driving for the vehicle’s projected market launch, which been rumored, but not confirmed, to happen as early as 2025. The car is said to feature Level 4 (or in some cases Level 5) self-driving ability that “doesn’t require human intervention.” However, should that technology not be ready in time, the company has reportedly considered initially rolling out the vehicle with a limited suite of semi-autonomous driving features similar to many cars on the road today.

Ujkashevic’s employment is even more important when considering how many employees the company has lost in the fields of engineering, robotics, and sensors. Additionally, with other electronics companies like Sony dipping their toes into the electric vehicle market, it could become increasingly crucial for Apple to produce Project Titan in order to safeguard their future success.

The future of Apple’s electric vehicle is still shrouded in mystery, but with Ujkashevic joining other auto industry executives from the likes of BMW, Tesla, and Waymo, the project looks closer to reality than ever.

Note: This story contains an independent and hypothetical illustration of an Apple iCar made by Carscoops artist Josh Byrnes.