Benzinga | Dec 9, 2021 09:48PM EST

Apple Car Project Loses 3 More Vital Engineers In Quick Succession

Apple Inc's (NASDAQ:AAPL) seven-year-old self-driving car project has lost three critical engineers in recent weeks, Reuters reports.

* Apple's project chief engineer for radar systems, Eric Rogers, departed for flying-taxi startup Joby Aviation Inc (NYSE:JOBY).

* Alex Clarabut, an engineering manager for the team's battery systems group, joined Archer Aviation Inc (NYSE:ACHR) to develop air taxis.

* Apple hardware engineering manager Stephen Spiteri departed to join Archer.

* The latest departures follow the loss of at least six members of the project's management team in 2021, including its former head, Doug Field.

* A recent critical departure was Michael Schwekutsch, who had led hardware engineering for the effort. Schwekutsch also joined Archer, where he serves as an SVP.

* Other former employees have joined car startups like Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ: RIVN).

* Price Action: AAPL shares traded higher by 0.52% at $175.98 in the market session on the last check Thursday.