'Apple Car' project loses original project manager Benjamin Lyon

Apple loses key senior manager for 'Apple Car' project

Sensor expert and senior team manager Benjamin Lyon left the "Apple Car" project for a new startup company.

The longtime manager was one of the first members of the Project Titan team and has lasted through its many iterations, until now. The "Apple Car" project has been under heavy industry scrutiny as Apple seeks out manufacturing partners for its eventual launch.

According to Bloomberg, Lyon was one of 11 managers who reported to project vice president Doug Field. The team has gone through many transitions and changes since its inception in 2014.

Apple's Project Titan could be an "Apple Car" or an array of self-driving systems meant for manufacturers to implement into cars. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects an "Apple Car" launch in 2025 at the earliest.

Benjamin Lyon left Apple for a satellite and space startup called Astra. It is unknown why Lyon left, but Apple's Project Titan has been in development for nearly seven years with no released product.

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15 Comments

boxcatcher

said about 3 years ago

The amount of noise and seeming churn around this project is insane

tmay

said about 3 years ago

boxcatcher said:

The amount of noise and seeming churn around this project is insane

Yet Apple is confident enough to keep from jumping the gun and producing a shitty product.

Maybe an Apple Car will never happen, but if it does, it will happen with success.

chadbag

said about 3 years ago

Maybe he was on the losing end of an internal deliberation. Maybe he just got burned out. Maybe the startup offered the intellectual adrenaline rush he craved. Maybe his sensor stuff was basically “done”.

People move for all sorts of reasons.

dk49

said about 3 years ago

I always wonder how these types of departures turn out for the previous company? That Apple employee knows a ton about the Apple Car. And while I am sure he must have signed a non-disclosure agreement with Apple when he joined, he could always unofficially talk about it to its new employer. In fact, I have a strong feeling that the startup hired him not just because of his experience and skills, but also about what he knows about the project. You could always say that Apple must have filed parents to protect its IP, but then everything is not about patents. Ideas are equally important. Even if he tells the new employer what Apple is planning to do exactly, that could be a a real gem of information for that startup, since they could start building a similar stuff in their car. Thus impacting the uniqueness of Apple Car.