Ford Creates Smart Mobility Subsidiary, with Self-Driving Vehicles as Its Main Focus

Self Driving Cars  

Ford has announced the creation of Ford Smart Mobility LLC, a new subsidiary formed to design, build, grow and invest in emerging mobility services. The move demonstrates Ford’s expanded business model to be both an auto and a mobility company. 

Back in January, during the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Ford Motor Company announced its Smart Mobility plan, involving various project that would have to do with innovative mobility solutions, such as autonomous cars and vehicle connectivity, among other things.

The plan highlighted the company's determination to ramp up its efforts for developing alternative transportation options for the increasing number of consumers pulling away from the traditional concept of privately-owned vehicles.

Now, the Dearborn automaker is taking that plan to a new and more concrete level, announcing that it has formed a new division that will exclusively focus on realization of some of the Smart Mobility projects.

Autonomous Vehicles in the Focus

The subsidiary that the company has created is called Ford Smart Mobility, LLC, and it will be headed by Jim Hackett, former board member at Ford and CEO of Steelcase. As Ford says, the new division is imagined as both “an auto and a mobility company.”

“Ford Smart Mobility and expanding into mobility services are significant growth opportunities,” said Mark Fields, president and CEO, Ford Motor Company. “Our plan is to quickly become part of the growing transportation services market, which already accounts for $5.4 trillion in annual revenue. Hackett is the right visionary leader – with extensive experience in business development and design – to take us into the mobility services business in the future.”

There are a couple of initiatives that Ford Smart Mobility, LLC, will be working on, including autonomous vehicles, in-vehicle connectivity, data analytics, and the consumer experience.

Ford claims that it will have the largest test fleet of self-driving vehicles this year, testing prototypes across three states: California, Arizona and Michigan. In the meantime, the company has increased investment in advanced driver assist systems and semi-autonomous driving technologies, as a foundation for driverless vehicles.

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Improved Infotainment Systems

Ford Smart Mobility, LLC, will take over development of the new generation of the automaker's SYNC infotainment system. The new system offers voice-controlled smartphone apps and remote access to certain vehicle features, which is supposed to help reduce distracted driving and improve the overall riding experience.

Other programs that will be further developed by Smart Mobility include GoPark, which is basically an intuitive system for allowing drivers to locate free parking spaces more easily; GoDrive – a car-sharing program that was recently launched in London; and Dynamic Shuttle – an on-demand ride service based on a ride-hailing app.

As part of the Smart Mobility initiative, Ford has launched a total of 25 experiments in various countries across the globe, and they are all aimed at better understanding new mobility trends and offering new transportation solutions that will correspond to the changing consumer needs.

Ford's Smart Mobility division will have two headquarters – one in Palo Alto, California, in addition to the one in Detroit, Michigan, which suggests that the automaker is determined to take on the Silicon Valley giants that work on self-driving technologies, such as Google, Apple and Tesla Motors, which are currently among the frontrunners in the driverless car race.

By Jordan Perch

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Author Bio - Jordan Perch is an automotive fanatic and “safe driving” specialist. He is a writer for DMV.com, which is a collaborative community designed to help ease the stress and annoyance of “dealing with the DMV.”