Apple Services exec takes a seat at Ford’s digital wheel

Ford has big plans to seize a few cents as vehicles transform into mobile platforms, and has just hired former Apple executive, Peter Stern, as president of its new integrated services unit.

Eddy Cue’s man gets behind Ford’s wheel

While at Apple Stern managed Apple TV+, iCloud, and Apple News+ for VP Eddy Cue. He was clearly pretty senior. Apple’s former VP Services, Stern was the name on the Apple press release that announced its deal with MLB Baseball.

He’s going to lead Ford’s attempts to build income from connected vehicles – that’s going to mean in-vehicle entertainment subscriptions and more. Stern worked at Apple for six years and quit in January 2023.

Some auto makers are exploring options such as vehicle features that can be unlocked if you pay for them and so on.

We can predict more of the same from Ford.

What Ford said

Ford’s new President of Ford Integrated Services, Stern will report directly to CEO Jim Farley, who has been hiring key execs, including former Apple/Tesla exec Doug Field, to lead the company’s efforts.

“This is transformational, because the cornerstone of our Ford+ plan is creating incredible customer services and experiences enabled by great hardware and software,” Farley said in a release. “There’s simply no one in the world better able than Peter Stern to build this strategically vital part of our business.”

Stern’s tasks will include building a team to:

• Build out the business tied to Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free highway driving system and productivity and safety/security services, including those from the Ford Pro Intelligence business.
• Imagine and deliver exciting new high-value services.
• Lead services marketing, certain out-of-vehicle customer experiences and Ford Next.

Ford has more than 550,000 paid software and services subscribers, with Ford Pro commercial customers today accounting for more than 80% of them.

What Stern said

“I love creating new services businesses and this is the perfect chance to do just that,” Stern said. “The auto industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, from gas engines to electric vehicles and from human to autonomous driving.

“At the same time, the basis for differentiation is shifting from the vehicles alone to the integration of hardware, software and services. I’ll be in the middle of something truly historic and am particularly fortunate to do that at Ford, which has been democratizing automotive technology for 120 years and counting.

“You couple that with the Ford family’s involvement in the business and commitment to doing the right thing in the long term and this is really where I belong.”

This is the second big Apple services hire made by the auto industry I know of this year.

Apple takes a seat

In May, General Motors hired Apple’s former VP Engineering for iCloud Services, Mike Abbott. In that case, Abbott was hired to lead a new software development arm.

This is clearly a land grab by auto makers, and means that Apple, at least to some extent, has some of its philosophies sat at the decision making tables for future auto industry evolution. Time alone will tell if the presence of key former execs in these positions will benefit the company’s business in the long run.

As I wrote then, the implications of the move as vehicles become platforms are immense. “Car makers including Honda are also exploring what they can do with driver data, from distance to entertainment to insurance provision. That data is gold dust on today’s AI-driven planet, and Apple’s commitment to privacy is either a barrier or a competitive advantage, depending on where you sit.”

Boston Consulting estimates the car subscription market in Europe and the US could reach $40 billion by 2030.

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