The hiring of John Krafcik to run Google's autonomous car program suddenly makes it a lot more likely that we will someday see Google/Alphabet-branded autonomous cars on the road. At the very least, it increases the likelihood that Google will now be able to make deals with other OEMs to adopt its software. With his engineering and product planning background at +Ford Motor Company and +Hyundai Worldwide, Krafcik knows the industry and what it takes to succeed. John knows what it will take to make the deals that Google has so far failed to achieve.
Things are suddenly getting very interesting.
Google is bringing in John Krafcik, the veteran Ford and Hyundai executive, to head its self-driving car program, presenting the clearest sign yet of Google’s broad commercial aspirations for the project. Krafcik, 53, a manufacturing expert and a fan of disruptive technology, comes to Google from car-shopping service TrueCar.