It looks like Apple's "Project Titan" is at a standstill.

In a report from Apple Insider, it seems that the tech company has frozen hiring on the team in charge of the company's automobile ambitions. This is due to Apple design chief Jony Ive's progress review expressing "displeasure" with the group.

Right now, Apple is said to have over a thousand people working on Project Titan in and out of Cupertino. With a hiring plan so aggressive, the company is said to be poaching talent from other tech giants like Tesla, Ford, GM, Samsung, and NVIDIA.

But there is also the possibility that the stall is made due to the departure of Steve Zadesky, who was in charge of the project, as noted by the Wall Street Journal. Although a person close with Zadesky said that his departure was due to personal reasons, there has been no official statement from the Apple overseer regarding the issue. Mac Rumors suggested that Apple may be holding off on the hiring until a new project leader can be established to continue working on the rumored electric vehicle.

While Apple itself hasn't confirmed the existence of its car project, the Wall Street Journal noted that it has hired automobile industry veterans as well as battery technology and autonomous driving experts. At the WSJD Live conference in October, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that he thinks "there will be a massive change in the industry" as tech like autonomous driving becomes more and more important.

Apple Insider also noted that the car initiative has already seen a couple of setbacks in the recent months. In September, some manufacturing issues forced the company to consider partnering with an established automobile company, many suspecting it to be BMW. The tech company's interest in the German automobile came thanks to their willingness to move beyond traditional car making approaches, as seen by their partnership with the i3.

It has also been suggested that the Cupertino-based company is aiming for the final engineering specifications to complete Project Titan by 2019 to 2020, but if it is internal issues that they have to sort through, then they could as easily hire a replacement for Zadesky as well as other people to spearhead the project within days.

The potential Apple Car will not make it to retailers any time in the next three years, especially with the current standstill. However, do you think it will be worth it for the company to invest in automobile making, or should they stick to the gadgets that they are already known for?