Simple-to-use apps and connectivity are poised to disrupt the auto market, just as they have done to so many other markets. It is clear in this interview, filmed at International CES2107 with Jessica Robinson, Director of City Solutions for The Ford Motor Company, that Ford understands that, to adapt to the coming disruptions, mobility must be at its core.
Robinson describes two of their complementary services to help achieve this goal of mobility, Chariot and Ford GoBike. What sets apart these shared transit and bike products, respectively, from Ford’s traditional products is that these are services represent a recurring revenue, instead of a one-time sale. What may be the most disruptive part of these offerings is that they create a direct relationship between Ford and the consumer; a much different approach than the traditional dealer model.
And although these efforts are somewhat nascent and limited to a few markets, the data Ford is collecting will be extremely valuable for future plans when they begin to electrify and make the fleet autonomous. It could also inform the types of future vehicles that would make sense for a given area.
And they literally have a vision, which appears as broll in the above video at approximately 3:49. Thanks to autonomy, connectivity, electrification and sharing, Ford’ envisions improvements including:
- Reduction in congestion through dynamic, crowd-sourced ridesharing
- Re-purposing of freeway lanes for exclusive use of e-bikes/bikes
- Less parking requirements and re-use of existing parking lots/spaces
- More green space and less pavement
- Elimination of traffic lights
- Multi-modal, shared transport
- Wireless charging (stay tuned for another ViodiTV interview about this topic)
In short, Ford’s vision of the future is one of zero accidents, elimination of emissions, no congestion and improved access to mobility.
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