Apple discontinues ‘Titan’ after 10 years of effort
Skepticism about technology implementation amid slowing demand
GM, Ford, etc. reduce investment one after another
Speed control by increasing hybrid model
Hyundai develops a 2.5-liter turbo engine
Self-driving technology, which was considered a ‘dream technology,’ is being put on the brakes one after another. Aptive, an American vehicle software development company, gave up the paid-in capital increase for Motional, an autonomous driving joint venture created in cooperation with Hyundai Motor Group, and Apple halted the development of the self-driving electric vehicle ‘Apple Car’, which it had worked on for 10 years. In response to the rapidly slowing demand for electric vehicles, major self-driving companies are turning their backs on technology development, and emergency lights are turning on in the industry.
According to related industries on the 28th, the entire self-driving industry is shaken by the news of Apple’s discontinuation of its electric vehicle project ‘Titan’. This is because they are aware of warnings that risk factors such as difficulties in implementing technology and slowing demand for electric vehicles are becoming a reality. An industry official said, “Amid the existing perception that the pace of autonomous driving technology development continues to slow, a sense of crisis is growing as global companies are giving up on technology for reasons such as profitability,” adding, “Autonomous driving technology, which was called a dream technology, is now just a dream.” “It is true that there is a growing public opinion that there may be only one remaining,” he said.
The prevailing opinion in the industry is that a red flag has been turned on, with investment funds flowing into autonomous driving technology being reduced until a few years ago. In addition to skepticism that it is difficult to implement level 4 autonomous driving, which entrusts driving to the vehicle without driver intervention, automakers are also reducing their investments. General Motors (GM) announced that it would cut its investment in its autonomous driving subsidiary, Cruise, by $1 billion this year, and Ford also announced that it would give up on implementing level 4 autonomous driving. Ford also closed Argo AI, an autonomous driving joint venture with Volkswagen, in 2022.
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Why Apple Car was discontinued?
The reason Apple stopped developing self-driving electric vehicles was because technology implementation was slow. The Apple Car was expected to be released in 2025, but it was postponed once to 2026. Performance was also aimed at level 5, which is fully autonomous driving, but was lowered to level 4, and was recently revised again to level 2+, which requires the presence of a driver. Park Cheol-wan, a professor of automotive engineering at Seojeong University, said, “I think Apple did not see a clear possibility because the future it saw 10 years ago and the current state of electric vehicles, led by Tesla, are completely different,” adding, “I think Apple has made a decision for growth.”
As Apple, which has $61 billion (approximately 81 trillion won) in cash, moves away from self-driving cars, the burden of competition on existing electric vehicle companies has decreased. There are also expectations that Apple’s talents will be absorbed into electric vehicle companies. According to Bloomberg News, the number of employees participating in the Titan project reached 2,000. Brad Holden, founder of Holden Richardson, explained, “Automakers will work hard to secure talent,” and added, “Recruiting will be successful because there will be a lot of great talent in the market.”
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Global automakers are in trouble
Calculations in the global automobile industry are also becoming more complex. Instead of adjusting the speed of business related to electric vehicles and self-driving cars, they are concentrating on preparing countermeasures by increasing the number of hybrid vehicles sold. According to foreign media, Mercedes-Benz decided to postpone its electric conversion plan by five years and focus on improving its internal combustion engine model. Initially, Mercedes-Benz planned to expand the proportion of electric vehicle sales, including hybrid vehicles, to 50% by 2025.
GM, which was focusing on the transition to electrification, also withdrew its plan to produce 400,000 electric vehicles this year and lowered its production target to 200,000 to 300,000 units. Instead, it announced plans to relaunch a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) model in North America. Ford also decided to increase production of internal combustion engine vehicles instead of reducing production of electric pickup trucks.
The same goes for domestic automakers. Hyundai Motor Group’s Genesis had previously planned to release all new vehicles launched in 2025 as electric vehicles, but has recently been considering including hybrid models. This is because calls for hybrid vehicles have recently become stronger in major markets such as North America. Hyundai Motor Group is currently developing a 2.5-liter turbo engine to be installed in the next-generation hybrid model.
2024-02-28 23:30:34
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