As the world evolves toward a radically altered transportation network with autonomous cars, ride-sharing services and electrified vehicles, traditional automakers need to work with small startup companies that provide new technologies, Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford said.
“Traditionally our industry has not worked well with smaller companies,” Ford said this morning during a Q&A discussion kicking off the 2014 Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress in Detroit. “We’ve worked well with Tier 1s that provide axles and engines and engine parts and those kinds of things.
“If we’re really going to be successful as a company, we have to know how to work with a very young company -- to not overload them with requests,” Ford said.
Source
Automotive News