Apple vet tasked with car project leaving

SAN FRANCISCO - An Apple veteran allegedly tasked with spearheading the company's mystery-shrouded car project is departing for personal reasons.

According to an anonymously sourced report in The Wall Street Journal Friday, 16-year employee Steve Zadesky has announced that he will be leaving Apple at an undisclosed time. Zadesky had a hand in the development of the iPhone and iPod, and two years ago was tasked with building up Apple's so-called Project Titan, which included the hiring of hundreds of engineers including some from Palo Alto-based electric car maker Tesla.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has called Apple's car project an "open secret."

Apple has never acknowledged that it is working on a car, although CEO Tim Cook told attendees at a Wall Street Journal Live conference in October that "there will be massive change in the (automotive) industry." According to reports, Project Titan has a ship date of 2019. Recent reports have also suggested that Apple has been in discussions with the operators of a former military compound east of San Francisco that could serve as a private automotive test facility.

“While the departure of Apple’s head of automobile efforts may seem like a blow, the reality is Apple has enough money and potential to bring in almost anyone they desire," says Akshay Anand, analyst at Kelley Blue Book. "This shouldn’t railroad Apple’s efforts and the rumors that they are indeed focused on becoming a player in the automotive space.”

Tesla's Musk says Apple car is an 'open secret'

The competition to build mass-market vehicles that leverage both alternative powertrains and autonomous technology has been growing, involving both tech companies (notably Google) and traditional auto manufacturers alike. Ford, Kia, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and others are hard at work adding driver-assist technology to existing vehicles which over time will eventually take over more driving chores from drivers.

Last year, Tesla added a new Autopilot feature to its sedans, which allows the vehicle's software to steer the car while at highway speeds as well as change lanes.

If Apple is indeed hoping to introduce a new line of presumably electric vehicles with some autonomous features to the marketplace, it will have competition from another brash upstart in the field.

Los Angeles-based Faraday Future is set to break ground soon on a $1 billion manufacturing plant in Nevada. The company has a flashy ceremony at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month to unveil a prototype. But instead of it being a practical model that might generate consumer interest, Faraday executives from the U.S. and China pulled the covers off an impractical 1,000-hp electric race car, leaving industry watchers guessing as to what the company might actually build first.

Follow USA TODAY tech reporter Marco della Cava on Twitter @marcodellacava.