Ford says it plans to create its own computer chips for vehicles, moving away from Texas Instruments.
The decision has the potential to save the company money, according to CEO Mark Fields.
“The cost of the core DRAM area is approaching $40 million a year,” Fields told Bloomberg, noting that the company will find savings by moving the work to Ohio.
Texas Instruments had already dropped its participation in the Fort Worth factory Ford recently announced plans to move to Ohio.
But Robert A. Brunell, chief operating officer for Texas Instruments in the Americas, told The Dallas Morning News that the move was “probably not good for Texas.”
Texas Instruments serves the automotive and computing industries.
Ford has seen profits slide for five straight years, and Fields last month dismissed a veteran executive who he said wasn’t up to the challenge of managing the company’s growth.
Fields fired Mark Fields, the CEO he’s been running since July 2014. A former auto dealer, Fields previously served as Ford’s CFO and President and chief operating officer.
Ford’s battery-powered Fusion was introduced in 2013, one of the company’s first truly high-tech vehicles.
Ford has invested in self-driving cars, such as its Jaguar E-Pace, but it will take time for the technology to be ready.
Both Google and Uber are among the companies building self-driving cars.
Chris Stirewalt joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in March 2010 and currently serves as digital politics editor based in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he authors the daily “Fox News First” political news note and hosts “Power Play,” a feature video series, on FoxNews.com. Stirewalt makes frequent appearances on the network, including “The Kelly File,” “Special Report with Bret Baier,” and “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.” He also provides expert political analysis for Fox News coverage of state, congressional and presidential elections.