Elon Musk posted a saluting emoji and an image of a cigarette to mark the demise of Apple’s electric car project.
The Tesla CEO reacted to the iPhone maker’s decision to discontinue its secretive “Project Titan” which had been working on creating an electric car for the better part of a decade.
“The natural state of a car company is dead,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
Apple’s move draws the curtain on a plan that would have helped the tech giant break out into a new industry and potentially replicate the success of the iPhone.
The project had seen uneven progress throughout its life and its end comes as global automakers cut back their investments in electric vehicles, whose demand has dropped significantly.
Several employees working on the project will be shifted to the company’s artificial intelligence division, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported the development.
Apple declined to comment.
In 2015, Musk was quoted as saying that he was not concerned about Apple’s foray into the electric vehicle space.
“It’s good that Apple is moving and investing in this direction. But cars are very complex compared to phones or smartwatches,” Musk told the German newspaper Handelsblatt. “You can’t just go to a supplier like Foxconn and say: ‘Build me a car.’”
In the interview, which was cited by Business Insider, Musk mocked Apple as a “Tesla graveyard.”
“If you don’t make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple,” Musk was quoted as saying. “I’m not kidding.”
Musk’s latest comments reflect the downturn in the electric vehicle market, which is experiencing a global drop in demand — prompting Ford and General Motors to cut production targets.
Last month, Musk warned of a sharp slowdown in sales growth this year.
Tesla has aggressively cut prices in hopes of competing against Chinese upstart BYD, which overtook Musk’s company as the world’s top EV maker in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Tesla shares are down 18% so far this year.
Shares of Tesla rivals Rivian and Lucid tumbled last week after their earnings reports pointed to the impact of slowing electric-vehicle demand on their costly ramp-up plans.
Rivian tanked 25% to a record low after it forecast flat growth in annual production, also hurt by a shutdown of its assembly line for upgrades.
Lucid sank 9% as its production forecast also came below estimates.
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