Ford Hires Doug Field After Apple and Tesla Stints ⇥ cnbc.com

Michael Wayland, CNBC:

Ford Motor said Tuesday it hired former Tesla and Apple executive Doug Field to lead its emerging technology efforts, a key focus for the automaker under its new Ford+ turnaround plan.

Field — who led development of Tesla’s Model 3 — most recently served as vice president of special projects at Apple, which reportedly included the tech giant’s Titan car project.

Last we heard — “we” being those of us who are not disclosed Apple employees — Field was reporting to John Giannandrea, who took on Project Titan after Bob Mansfield’s retirement.

Field said he decided to join Ford after speaking with company executives and realizing there’s a “deep desire” to remake the automotive industry, specifically with connected vehicles.

Connected vehicles are a key part to Ford’s new turnaround plan that’s designed to reposition the automaker to generate more recurring revenue through software services.

Hey, remember when you could just buy something? And you could just, like, own it, in perpetuity, without making monthly payments? It sounds like science fiction, but that is how the world used to work — really!