Could Apple be developing its own vehicle?

Bloomberg revealed in a report earlier this week that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been on a poaching spree with Apple’s employees, having already brought in more than 150 former Apple employees into the fold, more so than any other company. Apple has apparently been trying to do the reverse by luring some of Tesla’s people with some juicy paychecks, albeit with much less success.

Dana Hull and Tim Higgins note in their article for Bloomberg Business that Elon Musk was one of the biggest reasons for so many Apple users to come over to Tesla due to the similarities between himself and Steve Jobs as well as his supposed infatuation with Apple itself:

“Employees who have worked at Apple say their decision to join Tesla was based on its cars and its CEO. Musk has a reputation, like Steve Jobs did, for a mercurial temper and an obsessive attention to detail. A former Tesla worker who didn’t want to be named says that Musk is enamored with Apple and relishes comparisons between himself and its co-founder. Tesla, says one Silicon Valley recruiter who asked not to be named, attracts the same kind of employees that Apple does—driven, hard-charging, and drawn to a strong leader.”

The similarities between the two companies are apparent: both of them are driven by design, both of them offer premium products, and both of them want to have a positive impact on humanity through one means or another. Many of the engineers that helped build and design Tesla’s vehicles have worked for Apple in the past and have brought the company’s philosophy over to their new employer.

The real question on everyone’s mind, however, is whether or not Apple could be getting into the car business. Not just with CarPlay, I’m talking about actually working on its own vehicles. Rumors that Apple was looking to acquire Tesla actually began popping up around this time last year and, while that obviously never happened, Musk himself admitted that he would love to see Apple come out with their own vehicle.