Apple hires former BMW, Canoo executive for car project

Apple Inc has hired Ulrich Kranz, a former senior executive at BMW AG’s electric car division, to help its vehicle initiatives, the company confirmed on Thursday.

Kranz, who was most recently chief executive of electric vehicle startup Canoo Inc, will report to Apple veteran Doug Field, who led development of Tesla Inc’s mass market Model 3 and now runs Apple’s car project, the report said. Bloomberg reported the news on Thursday.

The iPhone maker’s automotive efforts, known as Project Titan, have proceeded unevenly since 2014 when Apple started designing its own vehicle from scratch.

In December, Reuters reported 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.