The head of Apple's automotive team plans to leave the company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.

Former Ford engineer Steve Zadesky, who joined Apple 16 years ago and has spent the past two years at the head of a secret electric car project called "Titan," is leaving for "personal reasons," according to the Journal.

The exact date of Zadesky's departure and the personal reasons at issue were not clear, the report said.

Contacted by AFP on Friday, Apple declined to comment.

Zadesky's departure would be a bump in the road for Apple's automotive aspirations.

Apple has never directly confirmed project Titan, but car-industry hires and acquisitions have fueled intense speculation that it has joined the race to merge automobile, internet, and machine intelligence.