Google hires ex-Hyundai boss John Krafcik to head its self-driving cars
Google has appointed ex-Hyundai boss John Krafcik to head its self-driving car project.
The tech giant announced on Sunday night that Krafcik, a 25-year car industry veteran who led Hyundai’s US operations, would take up the role of chief executive of the company’s self-driving car division.
Krafcik confirmed the news on his Twitter account saying that he would join the project in late September and described it as “a great opportunity to help Google develop the enormous potential of self-driving cars”.
Yes, true: I'm joining the Google Self-Driving Car project in late September.
— John Krafcik (@johnkrafcik) September 14, 2015
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, a Google spokesperson said that Krafcik’s “combination of technical expertise and auto-industry experience will be particularly valuable as we collaborate with many different partners to achieve our goal".
His appointment illustrates the extent to which Google is ramping up its self-driving car operations ahead of the launch later this year. Krafcik will leave his role as president of TrueCar, an online platform for automobile purchases. Prior to this he served as CEO for Hyundai Motor America from 2008 to 2013 and he also spent 14 years working in product development for Ford.
Chris Urmson, the project's former head, is expected to move over to oversee the car's technical development and software following Krafcik’s arrival.
Google announced earlier this summer that it would rebrand its parent company Alphabet which would be a collection of companies far removed from Google’s internet based products. The self-driving car programme however looks set to remain with the Google X lab after a spokesperson for the new corporate umbrella confirmed that it was “not becoming an Alphabet company at this stage” but added that it represented a “good candidate for the future”.
The homemade cars are due to hit the road in California this summer and have recently received permission to run tests in Texas.