WSJ: Apple car project is for real, and it's a minivan

WSJ: Apple car project is for real, and it's a minivan • 6:17 PM

Jason Aycock, SA News Editor

• Some more color on reports that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been hiring auto engineers, including from Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA): The Company has several hundred employees working on project "Titan," toward an Apple-brand electric car that one source says resembles a minivan, The Wall Street Journal reports.
• It might not end up as a released car, the report notes -- lots of work along the way could be used to boost other Apple products -- but the size of the team is telling.
• VP Steve Zadesky was reportedly given permission to create a 1,000-person team for the project and to work off-site from Apple HQ.
• Building cars is expensive, requiring billion-dollar plants, but Apple's $178B in cash means the barrier to entry is far smaller than for others.
• A self-driving car (a la Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)) is not in Apple's plans, a source says.
• After hours, TSLA -0.9%.
• Previously: Talent showdown between Tesla Motors and Apple (Feb. 10 2015)