Chances are there's somebody who is #2 at one of those companies and wants to be #1 and call the shots. Give that person a call, promise a budget in the millions and a chance to his product in millions of cars within a few years, and see what happens.

Better for Ford, there will be a #2 who isn't #2 on purely technical grounds but just because (s)he didn't arrive at just the right time, like the current #1 luckily did.