Ford's CEO has no idea what Apple is up to with its car project
Ford CEO Mark Fields was in the Big Apple for the New York Auto Show.
We spent an hour talking with him about the future of mobility. It was a wide-ranging conversation with a group of journalists, and we'll cover his comments in greater depth. But we also thought it was the perfect moment to ask him about the rumored Apple car.
"I'll ask you guys," he said. "You're probably more informed about that than I am."
It's not like Fields and Ford aren't interested in Apple's "Project Titan," which could be anything from a full-on car to some kind of connectivity experiment (so far, all we really know is that Apple is hiring people from the auto industry, and that Apple employees are driving around the Bay Area in a Dodge minivan with some weird tech strapped to top).
Ford is increasingly organizing itself, according to Fields, as provider of mobility, not just as a builder of cars and trucks. Former CEO Alan Mulally routinely spoke at CES, the biggest tech gathering of the year. Ford has been thinking about the future of the automobile for a long time and, like everyone else in the industry, stay ahead of the innovation curve.
On a conference call with analysts last year, Fields even revealed how intrigued Ford is with the Tesla Model S.
"[W]e have driven the Model S, torn it down, put it back together, and driven it again - we're very familiar with that product," he said.
Fields also wanted to know what the media thinks of the Apple Watch, a product that could have numerous applications in the auto industry.
But when it comes to Apple's top-secret car project, it seems that Fields is as much in the dark as everyone else.