Daily Pulse: Google Car Has Its Own CEO, Alibaba Head to Head with Barron's, Nintendo Crowns an HR Boss

This could be Alphabet’s first spinoff of an “X lab” project. Google’s self-driving car project is getting its own CEO later this month – John Krafcik, former CEO of Hyundai in North America and current president of TrueCar, a car-buying platform. Krafcik is also the auto exec who introduced the term “lean production” in the US in research written at MIT in the late 1980s, inspired by Toyota’s techniques in Japan. He was before that, out of Stanford, an engineer at NUMMI, the joint venture between hot-as-it-got Toyota and General Motors’ worst workforce that has reached legendary status in the auto industry. (If you’re unfamiliar with it, I strongly recommend this This American Life episode.) In auto, this is as good a résumé as it gets.

As Wired’s Alex Davies points out, Google isn’t necessarily interested in manufacturing its own cars, a massive and low-margin undertaking. But if it builds a technology to be used by other carmakers, Krafcik’s auto industry bonafides would help it build partnerships. Google says the enterprise remains an “X lab” project at the moment, but is a “good candidate” for an Alphabet spinoff. Stay tuned.

***

How low can you go? Barron’s ruffled feathers at Alibaba over the weekend with a cover story (paywall) predicting the stock could drop another 50%. Alibaba shares are already down nearly 40% from a year ago and now trading below opening price. To Barron’s writer Jonathan R. Laing, Alibaba has been riding high on the hype surrounding China and the charisma of founder Jack Ma. With the Chinese economy struggling, competition heating up, user growth slowing and the company already overvalued, the only way is down, he argues. “Gaudy financial reports can only work for so long before reality intrudes,” Laing concludes. Worse, the journalist questions the veracity of Alibaba’s financial reporting.

Alibaba took the unusual step of commenting on stock price -- tech companies usually prefer to let investors do their thing and stay the course on product, publicly at least -- in an open letter to Laing. The article “lacks three key ingredients – integrity, professionalism and fair play,” writes senior VP Jim Wilkinson in a point-by-point rebuttal.  

***

#Quote

“In 2001, Nasdaq lost 80% of its value. I’ll bet any bubble believer everything I have that Nasdaq won’t drop 80% in the next 5 years.”
Ben Horowitz, venture capitalist

***

Nintendo has a new boss. Tatsumi Kimishima, 65, was tapped to succeed as president Satoru Iwata, who died in July. Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario and Zelda, and Genyo Takeda, creator of the Wii console, had led the company in the interim; they stay on as “creative fellow” and “technology fellow” to form a triumvirate with Kimishima.

While Kimishima, former CEO of Nintendo North America and before that a banker, appears a safe choice -- perhaps too safe, some say, with more corporate credentials than gamer spirit --  where he stands out is he was most recently head of HR. With the recent exception of GM’s Mary Barra, that’s a rare way station for chief executives.

***

Airbus is gunning for the States. The European planemaker is opening a plant in Mobile, Alabama to assemble Airbus 320s, which compete for mid-haul flights with Boeing’s 737. Two advantages to the move: address the North American market faster without lugging planes from Europe and get contracts by playing the “made in America” card. The first two planes to come off the assembly line will be for Jetblue and American Airlines. Meanwhile Boeing is looking at doing the exact same thing for its 737 -- in China.

***

#Stat

25

Years running for Law & Order, the show that has employed every actor in New York City ( some of them more than once.) Dum dum.

Twice a day we share the news professionals need to know. Never miss one again: Download the brand new Pulse app.

Photo: New Google Car CEO John Krafcik at the Detroit Auto Show in 2012. STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images