Jim Hackett's Toughest Job Yet: Leading Ford into the Driverless Era

Ford Motor Co. this week tapped Jim Hackett--a former office furniture chief executive who has been running its ride- and vehicle-sharing division since March 2016--to assume leadership of the company. Hackett's assignment: to transform the 114-year-old automaker from a company that designs and sells vehicles driven by their owners into one that makes autonomous vehicles (see "What to Know Before You Get In a Self-Driving Car"). Today carmakers sell to individual drivers through an extensive network of dealers, which makes profits both selling and servicing cars. In a world of self-driving vehicles, individuals could stop buying cars, and instead use fleets owned and operated by a third party. Ford and its competitors could become the manufacturer and third-party owner, a seller of rides as well as vehicles.