This is a great opportunity to help Google develop the enormous potential of self-driving cars. According to Sarah Hunter, head of policy at the GoogleX innovation lab, “the intention is that the passenger gets in the vehicle, says into microphone, take me to Safeway, and the auto does the entire journey”. Probably its most expensive experiment to date, it is likely that Google would want some ROI on it, which means either licensing the technology or selling cars themselves.
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It is astounding to find out that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is not considering the manufacturing business given the milestone already achieved.
In a statement, the veteran of the vehicle industry has said that Google’s technology is expected to save lives, give people more mobility and free them from the frustrating things about driving. Krafcik kicked off his career at General Motors, where he was one of the first engineers in the company’s NUMMI joint project with Toyota. The manufacturers’ hope is that by offering some of Google’s promised life-saving advantages with this incremental improvement, they can create a kind of Counter- Reformation that keeps buyers firmly in the driver’s seat for years to come. “He will supplement the current leadership team, which includes Chris Urmson, who has led the project since 2009”, wrote Cowen & Co. analyst John Blackledge in an industry note Monday.
By hiring him, Google is sending a message that it’s critical concerning the enterprise aspect of autonomous automobiles and eager to work intently with the auto industry to commercialize the know-how.
But Courtney Hohne, a representative from Google told the Automotive News that Krafcik’s background doesn’t imply Google will manufacture its own cars. He starts at Google later this month. Google said it worked with Roush, RCO, ZF Lenksysteme, Continental, Bosch, Frimo, LG Electronics, Prefix and others to build about 150 fully autonomous vehicle prototypes – with Roush assembling them in Livonia.
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