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Former Chrysler exec's hiring kicks 'Apple Car' rumors into overdrive

Apple has recently hired Doug Betts, who was formerly a quality chief at Chrysler. This marks the first time Apple has hired someone from the automotive world that didn't have a technology background but rather one from the manufacturing side.

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Mike Segar/Reuters/File
An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York.

The Apple car rumors are officially in full swing right now. Well, they've been in full swing for a a little bit now, but that swing just got a nice big push. According to the Detroit Free Press, Apple has recently hired Doug Betts, who was formerly a quality chief at Chrysler. This is pretty big news because this marks the first time Apple has hired someone from the automotive world that didn't have a technology background but rather one from the manufacturing side.

Rumor has it that many at Apple are currently hard at work on bringing anelectric vehicle to market. The project has been code-named Titan, and the tech giant was reportedly in a bit of trouble for poaching some engineers from battery maker A123 Systems.

ALSO SEE: Michigan Set To Open 32-Acre Autonomous Car Test 'City': Video

The Betts hiring was spotted by a keen eye that caught it on his LinkedIn page. Betts was responsible for helping Chrysler push its overall vehicle quality in the right direction. Though the automaker still lagged behind others in the quality scores, it was seemingly on the right path before Betts and Chrysler parted ways. Now Apple has scooped up Betts, which possibly shows that Apple is expanding its Titan project push.

There is a rumored to-market-goal date of 2020. That still gives Apple some time to work out the bugs, and we wouldn't be surprised to find a few more key LinkedIn updates along the way.

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