Volkswagen hires Apple executive for autonomous vehicle role

Alexander Hitzinger

Volkswagen AG said on Wednesday it had hired an executive from Apple as a director responsible for technical development at its commercial vehicles division.

Alexander Hitzinger, 47, will also take group-wide responsibility for VW’s efforts to develop self-driving vehicles as well as offer “Mobility as a Service", an initiative that seeks to keep drivers behind the wheel of its cars even if they are drunk or the car is a shared service.

Hitzinger had been working on Apple’s electric car project, having earlier worked at Porsche, VW’s sports car division. Prior to that, the German-born engineer worked in Formula 1 racing at Red Bull Technology.