I worked with the automotive industry in advertising for decades, and though I’m now retired I do keep an eye on the industry. Apple has been working very aggressively on an autonomous vehicle for years; the moniker to date is “Project Titan.” A good validation of this is that they have been constantly hiring and replacing automotive talent. Here’s just one example:
They’ve also been in discussions with car makers about production, and at the moment it looks like the chances look good that they might partner with VW/Porsche:
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/porsche-apple-discuss-projects-that-should-alarm-tesla
And they’ve been very actively going back and forth with Foxconn and about developing chips for cars, and TSMC for building them:
Apple has also been very aggressively patenting car technologies, here’s just one recent edition:
From what I read years ago, Apple originally planned to announce the Car this year, but rumor has it that the reveal will happen in 2024. And more rumors, hires, patents, etc. keep flying every day.