SAN FRANCISCO -- Google on Tuesday announced that former Ford Motor Co. (IW 500/6) (F) chief Alan Mulally has joined its board of directors.

The auto and aviation industries veteran joined the Google board as the California technology firm continued to steer a self-driving car toward the market.

Mulally was appointed to the California technology titan's board on July 9, according to a blog post.

"Alan brings a wealth of proven business and technology leadership experience," Google chief Larry Page said in a prepared statement.

Mulally served as the chief of Ford from September of 2006 to June of this year. He was an executive at aircraft maker Boeing prior to working at Ford.

For Google, the car marks a shift away from adapting vehicles made by others in its quest to pioneer individual transport that needs only a stop-and-go function.

The blog post showed a photo of a prototype and an artist's rendering -- both rounded vehicles.

Previously, Google's autonomous auto ambitions were steered toward re-fitting Lexus and Honda cars to work as self-driving ones.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2014