Apple Is Scaling Back Autonomous Vehicle Plans

Apple Inc. AAPL "drastically scaled back" its ambitions in the car unit.

Bloomberg, citing "people familiar with the project," reported there have been hundreds of job cuts in its car unit and the company may no longer be building its own car. Hundreds of employees in the car unit have either been reassigned elsewhere in the company, let go, or quit over the past few months.

Apple's auto ambitions can be traced back to at least 2014 and the new project was dubbed "Project Titan."

Instead, Apple is focusing on developing an autonomous driving system which opens up the door towards partnering with automakers.

From July: Related Link: If Apple's Recent Hires Are Any Indication, The Apple Car Is A Priority

Apple's new direction also leaves the possibility for management to revisit its original plan of designing a car at some point in the future. The revised game-plan follows months of strategy disagreements, supply chain challenges and leadership flux.

Apple may have also hit roadblocks when auto suppliers were less willing to commit their products to a future Apple car. This marks a complete reversal compared to Apple's dominant status and influence with its hardware suppliers.

Bloomberg also noted that Apple is till hiring employees in its car unit, but are focusing on selecting employees with expertise that better align with the new strategy, another source told Bloomberg.

Two sources also suggested that Apple's executives will decide late next year the fact of Apple's car division and decide on a final direction.