John Krafcik

Last updated
John F. Krafcik
John Krafcik at IAA 2019 IMG 0839.jpg
Krafcik in 2019
Born (1961-09-18) September 18, 1961 (age 62)
Southington, Connecticut
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Stanford University
MIT Sloan School of Management
Occupation CEO of Waymo

John F. Krafcik (born September 18, 1961) was the CEO of Waymo from 2015 to 2021. Krafcik was the former president of TrueCar and president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. He was named CEO of Google's self-driving car project in September 2015. [1] Krafcik remained CEO after Google separated its self-driving car project and transitioned it into a new company called Waymo, housed under Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Krafcik grew up in Southington, Connecticut. [3] He studied mechanical engineering at Stanford University, where he graduated in 1983. [3] He received his master's degree in management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988, where he studied under James P. Womack. [3] [4]

Career

Krafcik worked in traditional automotive manufacturing for several decades before moving to Google's self-driving car project in 2015. [5] His first job was at New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, as a quality and manufacturing engineer from 1984 to 1986. [6] He worked in the International Motor Vehicle Program at MIT as a lean production researcher and consultant from 1986 to 1990. [7] During this time, Krafcik traveled and studied 90 manufacturing plants in 20 countries, comparing their productivity and quality. [8] His studies formed the data behind Womack's book, The Machine That Changed the World . [8] The book was a study on "lean production", a term Krafcik coined. [9] In 1990, Krafcik moved to Ford Motor Company where he held several positions, including chief engineer for the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator in the late 1990s and early 2000s and the chief engineer for truck chassis engineering. [3] [5]

Krafcik started at Hyundai Motor America as vice president for product development and strategic planning in 2004. [3] [8] [10] Within a few years he was promoted to become the president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America until the end of 2013. [3] During Krafcik's tenure, Hyundai reported record sales [11] and increased U.S. market share. [8] Following the financial crisis of 2007–2008, Krafcik oversaw a group at Hyundai to create an "Assurance Program". [12] The program allowed Americans to return their new cars if they lost their jobs within a year. [12]

Krafcik moved to become president of True Car, Inc. in 2014 and served as a director of the company's board. [13] [14]

Google hired Krafcik to head its self-driving cars unit in September 2015, as the company struggled to build relationships in the Motor City. [1] [15]

In 2018, Krafcik was awarded Smithsonian Magazine 's American Ingenuity Award for Technology alongside Dmitri Dolgov. [16]

John Krafcik presenting the Hyundai Sonata John Krafcik presenting the Hyundai Sonata.jpg
John Krafcik presenting the Hyundai Sonata

Waymo

In December 2016, more than a year after Krafcik joined Google, the company's self-driving car project was spun off as its own company, Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, and Krafcik became its CEO. [17] In 2017 and 2018, under Krafcik, Waymo struck partnerships with Lyft, Fiat Chrysler, and Jaguar Land Rover. [9] [18] Krafcik initiated talks with Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne. [15] Two months later, the two announced a deal to integrate Waymo hardware into Fiat Chrysler minivans. [15] Krafcik also made a deal with Avis Budget Group to maintain its growing fleet. [15]

As CEO, Krafcik led Waymo's efforts to commercialize the company's autonomous technology. [12] These include ride sharing, trucking, urban last-mile solutions and passenger cars. [12] [19] [20] Krafcik also pursued licensing Waymo's technology to vehicle manufacturers and has deployed the largest fleet of self-driving cars. [15] Krafcik told auto makers that Waymo's goal is to make better drivers, not cars. [15]

In April 2021, Krafcik resigned as Waymo CEO to "kick-off new adventures". [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyundai Motor Company</span> South Korean multinational automaker

The Hyundai Motor Company, often referred to as Hyundai Motors, and commonly known as Hyundai, is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, which was founded in 1967. Currently, the company owns 33.88 percent of Kia Corporation, and fully owns two marques including its luxury cars subsidiary, Genesis, and their electric vehicle brand Ioniq. The three brands altogether make up the Hyundai Motor Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-driving car</span> Vehicle operated with reduced human input

A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous car (AC), driverless car, or robotic car (robo-car), is a car that is capable of operating with reduced or no human input. Self-driving cars are responsible for all driving activities including perceiving the environment, monitoring important systems, and controlling the vehicle, including navigating from origin to destination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PSA Group</span> Former French automotive manufacturing corporation

The PSA Group, legally known as Peugeot S.A. was a French multinational automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles and motorcycles under the Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall brands. On 18 December 2019, PSA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced that they had agreed to the terms of a binding $50 billion merger. On 16 July 2020, both companies announced the new name for their merged operations, Stellantis. The deal closed on 16 January 2021. As of 2022, Stellantis is fourth largest automaker by sales behind Toyota, Volkswagen Group, and Hyundai Motor Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergio Marchionne</span> Italian-Canadian businessman (1952–2018)

Sergio Marchionne was an Italian-Canadian businessman, widely known for his turnarounds of the automakers Fiat and Chrysler, his business acumen and his outspoken and often frank approach, especially when dealing with unpalatable issues related to his companies and the automotive industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dmitri Dolgov</span> Russian-American businessman (born 1977/1978)

Dmitri Dolgov is a Russian-American engineer who is the co-chief executive officer of Waymo. Previously, he worked on self-driving cars at Toyota and Stanford University for the DARPA Grand Challenge (2007). Dolgov then joined Waymo's predecessor, Google's Self-Driving Car Project, where he served as an engineer and head of software. He has also been Google X's lead scientist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Velodyne Lidar</span> American technology company

Velodyne Lidar is a Silicon Valley-based lidar technology company, headquartered in San Jose, California. It was spun off from Velodyne Acoustics in 2016. As of July 2020, the company has had about 300 customers. Velodyne Lidar ships sensors to mobility industry customers for testing and commercial use in autonomous vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems, mapping, robotics, infrastructure and smart city applications. In February 2023, the company merged with Ouster.

The 2008–2010 automotive industry crisis formed part of the 2007–2008 financial crisis and the resulting Great Recession. The crisis affected European and Asian automobile manufacturers, but it was primarily felt in the American automobile manufacturing industry. The downturn also affected Canada by virtue of the Automotive Products Trade Agreement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ram Trucks</span> American brand of light to mid-weight commercial vehicles, a division of Stellantis

Ram Trucks, stylized as RAM and formerly known as the Ram Truck Division, is an American brand of light to mid-weight trucks and other commercial vehicles, and a division of Stellantis. It was established in a spin-off from Dodge in 2010 using the name of the Ram pickup line of trucks. Ram Trucks' logo was originally used as Dodge's logo. Ram 1500 "Classic" trucks are made at the Warren Truck Plant in Warren, Michigan, United States, and at the Saltillo plant in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. New series Ram 1500 pickups are made at Sterling Heights Assembly in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Since its inception, the brand has used the slogan "Guts. Glory. Ram."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waymo</span> Autonomous car technology company

Waymo LLC, formerly known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, is an American autonomous driving technology company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google.

The Apple electric car project is an electric car project undergoing research and development by Apple Inc. Apple did not openly discuss any of its self-driving research, but around 5,000 employees were reported to be working on the project as of 2018. In May 2018, Apple reportedly partnered with Volkswagen to produce an autonomous employee shuttle van based on the T6 Transporter commercial vehicle platform. In August 2018, the BBC reported that Apple had 66 road-registered driverless cars, with 111 drivers registered to operate those cars. In 2020, it was believed that Apple was still working on self-driving related hardware, software and service as a potential product, instead of actual Apple-branded cars. In December 2020, Reuters reported that Apple was planning on a possible launch date of 2024, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed it would not be launched before 2025 and might not be launched until 2028 or later.

A robotaxi, also known as robo-taxi, self-driving taxi or driverless taxi, is an autonomous car operated for a ridesharing company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alphabet Inc.</span> American multinational technology conglomerate

Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Alphabet is the world's third-largest technology company by revenue and one of the world's most valuable companies. It was created through a restructuring of Google on October 2, 2015, and became the parent company of Google and several former Google subsidiaries. It is considered one of the Big Five American information technology companies, alongside Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.

Ottomotto LLC, d/b/a Otto, was an American self-driving technology company founded in January 2016 by Lior Ron and Anthony Levandowski.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Levandowski</span> French-American automobile engineer (born 1980)

Anthony Levandowski is a French-American self-driving car engineer. In 2009, Levandowski co-founded Google's self-driving car program, now known as Waymo, and was a technical lead until 2016. In 2016, he co-founded and sold Otto, an autonomous trucking company, to Uber Technologies. In 2018, he co-founded the autonomous trucking company Pronto; the first self-driving technology company to complete a cross-country drive in an autonomous vehicle in October 2018. At the 2019 AV Summit hosted by The Information, Levandowski remarked that a fundamental breakthrough in artificial intelligence is needed to move autonomous vehicle technology forward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Urmson</span> CEO of self-driving technology company Aurora

Chris Urmson is a Canadian engineer, academic, and entrepreneur known for his work on self-driving car technology. He cofounded Aurora Innovation, a company developing self-driving technology, in 2017 and serves as its CEO. Urmson was instrumental in pioneering and advancing the development of self-driving vehicles since the early 2000s.

Cruise LLC is an American self-driving car company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded in 2013 by Kyle Vogt and Dan Kan, Cruise tests and develops autonomous car technology. The company is a largely autonomous subsidiary of General Motors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automotive industry in Egypt</span> Overview of the automotive industry in Egypt

The automotive industry in Egypt has been developing for 50 years. It can sell more than 200,000 vehicles annually and is now the second-largest market in Africa and the 42nd largest in the world, with an annual production output of over 70,000 vehicles. After experiencing many failures and success, the Egyptian Automotive industry is focusing more on assembly operations rather than manufacturing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yandex self-driving car</span> Robotaxi project

Yandex self-driving car is an autonomous car project of the Russian-based technology company Yandex. The first driverless prototype launched in May 2017. As of 2018, functional service was launched in Russia with prototypes also being tested in Israel and the United States. In 2019, Yandex revealed autonomous delivery robots based on the same technology stack as the company's self-driving cars. Since 2020, autonomous robots have been delivering food, groceries and parcels in Russia and the United States. In 2020, the self-driving project was spun-off into a standalone company under the name of Yandex Self-Driving Group.

Aurora Innovation, Inc., doing business as Aurora, is a self-driving vehicle technology company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Aurora has developed the Aurora Driver, a computer system that can be integrated into cars for autonomous driving. Aurora was co-founded by Chris Urmson, the former chief technology officer of Google/Alphabet Inc.'s self-driving team, which became known as Waymo, as well as by Sterling Anderson, former head of Tesla Autopilot, and Drew Bagnell, former head of Uber's autonomy and perception team.

Tekedra Mawakana is an American businesswoman and lawyer is the co-chief executive officer of Waymo. Previously, she was the company's chief operating officer, and prior employers have included Steptoe & Johnson, AOL, Yahoo!, and eBay. Mawakana has served on the boards of the Consumer Technology Association, the Global Network Initiative, the Internet Association, Boom Supersonic, Operator Collective, and Intuit.

References

  1. 1 2 Drew Olanoff (14 September 2015). "Google Names John Krafcik Its Self-Driving Car Project CEO". TechCrunch . Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  2. ↑ McFarland, Matt. "Google launches Waymo and moves closer to self-driving cars". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Undercoffler, David (7 June 2014). "How I Made It: John Krafcik". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  4. ↑ Gary S. Vasilash (12 January 2005). "From NUMMI to MIT to Ford to Hyundai: John Krafcik". Automotive Design & Production. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  5. 1 2 Laura Putre (1 February 2016). "John Krafcik on Google's partnership plans with OEMs and why the 'Koala Car' doesn't look more like an 800-horsepower Mustang". IndustryWeek . Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "Google hires TrueCar president to head self-driving car project". Fortune. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  7. ↑ Thomas A. Kochan; Russell D. Lansbury; John Paul Macduffie (1997). After Lean Production: Evolving Employment Practices in the World Auto Industry. Cornell University Press. p. 9. ISBN   978-0-8014-8413-1 . Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Sally Atwood Hamilton (25 April 2012). "Destined to Drive". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  9. 1 2 Bergen, Mark; Naughton, Keith (2 April 2018). "Waymo isn't going to slow down now". Bloomberg . Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "How I Made It: John Krafcik - LA Times". Los Angeles Times . 7 June 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  11. ↑ Tucker, Geri Coleman (1 March 2013). "Hyundai sales up, Kia off vs. a year ago". USA Today . Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Barr, Alistair; Ramsey, Mike (13 September 2015). "Google Brings in Chief for Self-Driving Cars". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  13. ↑ Korosec, Kirsten (14 September 2015). "Google hires TrueCar president to head self-driving car project". Fortune . Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  14. ↑ Fleming, Charles (14 September 2015). "Google hires TrueCar executive to run autonomous-car division". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Higgins, Tim (11 September 2017). "Google Plots to Conquer Self-Driving Cars—by Making Peace With Detroit". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "2018 American Ingenuity Award Winners". Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  17. ↑ Reese, Hope. "Waymo (formerly Google's Self-Driving Car Project): The smart person's guide". TechRepublic. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  18. ↑ "Waymo's John Krafcik has the answers to your self-driving car questions". Recode. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  19. ↑ della Cava, Marco (31 October 2017). "Waymo shows off the secret facility where it trains self-driving cars". USA Today . Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  20. ↑ Alex Davies (13 March 2018). "Waymo takes the final step before launching its self-driving car service". Wired . Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  21. ↑ LeBeau, Phil. "Waymo CEO John Krafcik steps aside as co-CEO's take over". CNBC. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.