Google picks chief for car team

Google has hired auto industry veteran and former Hyundai U.S. CEO John Krafcik to run its self-driving car program.

Krafcik, 53, is credited with turning around Hyundai’s U.S. operations, leading the company to huge sales increases after the Great Recession that began in 2008. Early in his career as a mechanical engineer he worked at a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors where he became a proponent of lean manufacturing.

For Google, Krafcik’s hiring shows it is serious about turning autonomous cars into a sustainable business. Google has promised to have a selfdriving car in the public’s hands by 2020. Krafcik starts as the autonomous car CEO this month.

TONY DING/AP 2013 John Krafcik, a veteran executive of the auto industry, will lead Google’s effort to develop a self-driving car.