The Future of Transportation for Ford
Ford sees itself as a part of $2.3 trillion automotive industry where it has 6 percent market share as well as $5.4 trillion transportation market. The company plans to offer its vehicle not only as a hardware which moves a person from A to B, but more as a platform for delivery services. On top of that, the company will offer an overall customer experience which includes autonomous driving, services, and even financing.
Ford is working together with several companies such as Velodyne for its solid-state hybrid Ultra Puck auto sensor for precision mapping and DJI for its drone-to-vehicle technology for emergency services. It is also creating its own researcher team to experiment on vehicles that will be able to drive themselves as well as how to use voice command to get the car started in the morning. The company even offer financing services through Ford Credit. All these will fall under Ford Smart Mobility.
Ford is also working with Amazon with its Eco device and Alexa cloud platform to integrate cars with other smart things in the home. Therefore, parents who are also Ford car owners will be able to do things like checking out whether their kids are already at home while they are on the way back.
Ford is able to do most of the things by themselves. However, the company is also looking for opportunities to work with partners to develop things together whereby both Ford and its partner will contribute into the development of the new product. It will not come in a situation whereby Ford becomes a contract manufacturer for other company.
