What you need to know
- A new report says that Apple poached a top Porsche engineer to work on its Apple Car.
- Dr. Manfred Harrer was previously the boss of Porsche's Cayenne project and was considered one of the best engineers at VW.
A new report says that Apple poached one of Porsche's top engineers to work on its Apple Car project.
According to Business Insider Germany:
Apple is serious. Seven years after CEO Tim Cook commissioned the secret "Titan" project, the mysterious iCar is now taking shape. According to Business Insider research, the Americans poached the long-standing head of chassis development at Porsche to build their own car. Cayenne boss Dr. Manfred Harrer (48) was considered one of the best engineers in the Volkswagen Group.
The new report notes recent rampant speculation about an Apple Car, fuelled by reports it is working with Hyundai to develop the 'Apple Car' and that it has thousands of employees working on the project.
According to the report, Harrer is a "chassis expert", who reportedly said goodbye to colleagues without telling them where he was going or why. It further notes his LinkedIn profile still claims he is employed by Porsche. One former VW manager reportedly said "The American headhunting is amazing. "Mr. Harrer was actually a hidden champion. Humanly a very calm guy, without any need for recognition. And he's the measure of all things in his field. "
Having begun his career as a graduate engineer at Audi, Harrer worked to become a steering expert at BMW, before joining Porsche in 2016. Just a few months before he left he was promoted to manager of Porsche's Cayenne series. The report notes that even though Harrer didn't go to Apple for the money, he is likely getting a significantly bigger paycheck than this previous salary of 600,000 euros a year. The report says Apple "is now certainly making him an income millionaire", according to industry experts.
It was recently reported that Apple plans to invest some 3.6 billion in Kia to aid Apple Car production, following reports the project will be a "very high-end model" electric vehicle, way more expensive than a Tesla, and based on Hyundai's E-GMP electric vehicle platform.
