Ford Hires Away Executive Leading Apple's Car Project

Ford is hiring the head of Apple's car project away from the iPhone maker, a stunning development that brings the 118-year-old automaker an executive with Silicon Valley chops. Bloomberg reports: Doug Field is coming aboard as chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer, Ford said in a statement. Field also previously worked as a top engineer at Tesla between two stints at Apple -- most recently as a vice president in its special projects group -- and played a major role at Tesla launching the Model 3 sedan. The hire is a coup for Ford, which has made major strides under Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley in convincing investors it can compete with Tesla and others on electric vehicles and technology. Ford shares have almost doubled since Farley took over in October, after his two predecessors presided over a years-long slump.

'This is a watershed moment for our company -- Doug has accomplished so much,' Farley said in a briefing with reporters. 'This is just a monumental moment in time that we have now to really remake' the automaker. Apple said it's grateful for the contributions Field made and that it wishes him well at Ford. The departure marks another significant setback for Apple's automotive efforts. The company's car project has gone through several strategy and leadership shake-ups since it started to take shape around 2014.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.