AAPL Apple Inc

By Daisuke Wakabayashi 

Apple Inc. has tapped a highly regarded senior executive who helped bring to market many of Apple's signature products to oversee its fledgling automobile project, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bob Mansfield had stepped back from a day-to-day role at the company a few years ago, after leading the hardware engineering development of products including the MacBook Air laptop computer, the iMac desktop computer, and the iPad tablet. Apple now has Mr. Mansfield running the company's secret autonomous, electric-vehicle initiative, code-named Project Titan, the people said.

Mr. Mansfield, who joined Apple in 1999 and was one of its top executives under former Chief Executive Steve Jobs, had been an adviser at the company since leaving Apple's executive team in 2013. At the time, Apple said Mr. Mansfield was going to remain at Apple to work on special projects and report to CEO Tim Cook. One of those projects -- the Apple Watch -- was introduced last year.

Until recently, Mr. Mansfield -- who, along with design chief Jony Ive, was one of the few executives to appear in Apple's carefully-crafted product announcement videos -- had all but retreated from the company aside from the occasional visit, these people said. Earlier this month, employees at Apple noticed in the company directory that all the senior managers on the car project were now reporting to Mr. Mansfield, they said.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment on personnel matters. Mr. Mansfield didn't respond to an email seeking comment.

As the focus of automobile technology shifts from the internal combustion engine to software, machine vision, and battery technology, it has opened the door for companies like Apple to benefit from years of experience in building high-tech devices. Mr. Cook has predicted that "there will be a massive change in the industry" as software and autonomous driving become more important.

The car project is one of Apple's long-term projects aimed at driving future growth -- an especially pressing need with the company suffering from a slowdown in sales for its flagship product, the iPhone.

Mr. Mansfield's reassignment brings a leader with a record of delivering challenging technical products to market to an effort that has been mired in problems, according to people familiar with the project.

Apple, which has never acknowledged publicly that it is working on a car, has hundreds of employees working on the project, these people said. It has hired a slew of veterans from the automobile industry as well as experts in battery technology and autonomous driving.

But building a car is complicated and Apple has struggled to define a differentiated vision for its vehicle, these people said. Some of the automobile industry veterans have clashed with longtime company employees on how best to proceed.

Earlier this year, Steve Zadesky, who was assigned to head the project, left the company citing personal reasons, people close to the company said then.

An initial target set by management to complete the project by 2019 was seen as unrealistic by team members, considering the number of unresolved challenges, according to people familiar with the project. Technology news site The Information reported last week that Apple had pushed back the target to 2021, although it isn't clear whether this is a target that Mr. Mansfield has approved.

Mr. Mansfield has a reputation within Apple as a data-driven decision maker who enjoys complex projects. However, one person familiar with Mr. Mansfield cautioned that his involvement isn't necessarily a sign that the car project is ready to move forward at an accelerated rate, noting that he has killed projects in the past.

Mr. Mansfield joined Apple when the company acquired Raycer Graphics, where he had been vice president of engineering. He had overseen microprocessor efforts at other companies and became in charge of Mac hardware engineering. Over time, his responsibilities grew and he oversaw development of many key Apple technologies including microprocessors for the iPhone and iPad and the company's "Retina" high-definition displays.

In 2012, Mr. Mansfield had planned to retire from Apple but was persuaded to stay on by Mr. Cook, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. He was appointed senior vice president of technologies, but nine months later, Mr. Mansfield's biography disappeared from Apple's home page and the company said he was leaving the executive team.

Write to Daisuke Wakabayashi at Daisuke.Wakabayashi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 25, 2016 11:53 ET (15:53 GMT)

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