Ford Motor Company President and CEO Jim Hackett discusses his leadership of the iconic American brand during a time of disruption and evolution in the auto industry and his views on the forces that will shape the future of Ford.
On the history of Ford: “Henry Ford was the ultimate disruptor…. And so, what I think about is, if he were alive today, he would be looking at this step function and shift that the vehicles are going to do and say, ‘This is my opportunity.’… So, as I stare at my responsibility, I’m thinking the roots here go deep in terms of the kind of leader he was and what he stood for, and the kind of things in the world we need to address. He built an incredible culture of loyalty.”
On autonomous vehicles: “This is a technology that will change our lives as much as anything in history… and the system that supports it… is $11 trillion inclusive of the autonomy. So, you find it’s a hard case to make for something else that’s as big. This is why all the tech companies are interested in this because it’s bigger than computing was as it was starting. And it’s because of the penetration with humans. That’s the reason that makes it so big. So, I’m just making a case for how powerful it is.”
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