DETROIT — Former Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith, auto industry veteran, is joining Ford Motor in advancing the automaker's autonomous vehicle development.
Griffith will join Ford Autonomous in a new position as the director of AV product, marketing and operations, Jim Farley, the automaker's president for new businesses, technology and strategy, said Tuesday.
Griffith, 60, will lead the development and execution of the automaker's go-to-market strategy as it relates to customer experience and autonomy.
The Ford subsidiary was formed in 2018 and focuses on autonomous vehicle development, including self-driving systems integration, AV research and advanced engineering and more.
The automaker previously said its investment in AV technology would total $4 billion through 2023.
Farley said at a conference last month that the automaker is still committed to launching self-driving commercial robocars by its self-imposed deadline of 2021. In addition to Tuesday's announcement, the automaker has made other moves to meet this deadline, including acquiring defense contractor Quantum Signal AI in July.
In a Medium blog post, Farley said Griffith is critical to the team for his experience in "launching a new mobility service with large-scale operations."
Griffith joined car-sharing service Zipcar as CEO in 2003, replacing one of the founders, and held that position until 2013.
Griffith led what is the world's largest car-sharing network in going public in 2011 and was responsible for its sale to Avis Budget Group the year he left the company.