Ford hires Apple car’s chief Doug Field as chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer. According to the press release, “Field will lead Ford’s efforts to develop the next-gen Blue Oval Intelligence tech stack to deliver smart connected vehicles and services smart, connected vehicles and services that improve over time through constant updates.”
Field will be reporting to Ford’s CEO and President, Jim Farley. He was VP of special projects at Apple till date, which comes under the de facto head of the company’s push to making Apple cars. The project is known as Project Titan, which was started back in 2014.
In 2013 before the project in Apple started, Field went to join Tesla as Tesla’s chief vehicle engineer from being a VP of MAC hardware engineering at Apple. He helped oversee some troubles during the developments of Tesla’s Model 3 Sedan. Later by 2018, he left Tesla only to rejoin Apple again. But now the departure is a shakeup because Apple’s moves to manufacturing in Asia, and its attempts to talk with automakers in the world are being trailed. The project is still at an early stage to be losing the chief already.
New beginnings
An Apple spokesperson said in a statement to the Verge, “We’re grateful for the contributions Doug had made to Apple and we wish him all the best in this next chapter.”
Recently Apple hired a BMW executive who worked on Hybrid sports cars i3 EV and i8, Ulrich Kranz. Now Kranz is CEO of Canoo, an EV startup. Under the purview of John Giannandrea, the moves of Apple have constantly moved around this year.
On the other hand, Ford will be having Field, working on the notable F-150 Lightning which Ford is to start deliveries by next year. Ford has been steadily building Mustang Mac-E and on many occasions proved to be a tough competitor for Tesla cars. Furthermore, it is known that the company is rallying behind a business plan known as Ford Plus. Field will be joining as leading software and connectivity strategy. Also, will be working in partnership with Hau Thai-Tang.
Farley said on a call with reporters, “This is a watershed moment for our company. The entire customer experience of the future goes through the embedded system,”
Farley later compared the mobile industry to the auto industry, when initially people thought only calls were possible with phones, but there is more to it. Ford is developing a digital platform to give its customers a unique experience.
