Ex Ford and Hyundai Executive to Lead Google’s Self-Driving Car Program

Google has hired auto industry veteran and former head of Hyundai Motors America John Krafcik as CEO of the company’s Self-Driving Car Project. Google spokeswoman Kara Berman told me in email that Krafcik “will oversee all aspects of the self-driving car project,” and confirmed that “he’s the first CEO” for the high-profile venture that’s part of Google X, its secretive development program for new technologies.

Google said in an emailed statement, “We’re adding an outstanding business leader in John Krafcik. John’s combination of technical expertise and auto industry experience will be particularly valuable as we collaborate with many different partners to achieve our goal of transforming mobility for millions of people.”

Google spokeswoman Courtney Hohne told Automotive News that “Krafcik’s background shouldn’t be interpreted as a sign that Google intends to become a manufacturer” of self-driving cars. “We’re not going to make cars ourselves,” Hohne added. “We know what we’re good at, and we’ll partner with many different companies to bring this technology into the world safely.”

Earlier this year Google announced that it was working with several traditional automotive suppliers, including Continental and Bosch, to build two-seat pod-like self-driving cars with a removable steering wheel and pedals.

After helping lead Hyundai through a sales boom and design renaissance, Krafcik left in in 2013 and served a short stint as president of the car-shopping service TrueCar. Krafcik also held various product development executive positions was at Ford from 1990 to 2004.

Krafcik, who studied mechanical engineering at Stanford University and business at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gives Google direct experience in product development and manufacturing as well as strong worldwide connections to the auto industry. Krafcik is also well-known for being part of the MIT research team in the 1980s that coined the term “lean production” as part of a pivotal study of Toyota’s manufacturing system in the book, The Machine That Changed the World.

Krafcik said in an emailed statement: “This is a great opportunity to help Google develop the enormous potential of self-driving cars. This technology can save thousands of lives, give millions of people greater mobility, and free us from a lot of the things we find frustrating about driving today. I can’t wait to get started.”

Krafcik is scheduled to take the helm of Google’s Self-Driving Car Project later this month and will be based at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Source: Forbes