Ford goes trend-spotting

Mark Fields, CEO Ford Motor Company, has forecast big changes for the automotive industry, transportation and the Blue Oval this year.

“I predict that 2016 will be a revolution year for the auto industry and transportation,” he declared within the first 60 seconds of addressing media at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas overnight.

“The year that we’re going to see major breakthroughs that change the way the world moves. And at Ford we intend to lead the way.”

Among announcements of partnerships with Amazon, DJI and Velodyne, Fields did not confirm recent rumours that Ford and Google were holding hands in a possible tie-up between the two global business giants.

However, it is believed that Ford will be using Google’s more robust and secure software to network its autonomous vehicle program.

Last year at CES, Ford executives admitted the company was struggling to develop secure software for its test fleet of autonomous prototypes.

Co-incidentally, perhaps, ex-Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally presently holds a chair on Google’s board of directors. Remember it was Mulally who courted Microsoft in 2008 into a technology and marketing share deal for SYNC.

Fields' future vision sees Ford improving its range of EVs, and by 2020 he claims Ford will offer more than 13 new electrified models. He’s not alone in predicting the growth of EVs as just about every major automotive manufacturer is moving rapidly to develop EV and autonomous driving technologies.

“We are very proud of being an auto-maker, and we’re going to continue to be a world-class innovator in this regard. But at the same time beginning this year you’re going to see us change pretty dramatically becoming an auto and a mobility company,” he declared.

Fields is not known to be passionate about cars, but he’s clearly keen on making money and improving Ford’s revenues.

Explaining why he’s steering Ford toward 'mobility', he answers: “It makes business sense. The traditional auto industry achieves around $2.3 trillion in revenue a year. Ford’s share is around six per cent of that. At the same time, transportation services which include mass transit, taxi and ride sharing totals around $5.4 trillion, and it is going to grow in the next 15 years.”

The plain truth is more blunt. Ford simply cannot continue to exist on US sales of the F-Series pick-up, and the company’s investment and rebuilding of the Lincoln brand is expensive and slow.

As Fields pushes Ford into the new age of connectivity and mobility, he announced an interesting partnership with Amazon to link Ford vehicles via SYNC with Alexa and Amazon Echo smart home device.

Alexa is Amazon’s cloud-based voice service. Think butler in a soda can. Alexa can control selected home devices, says Greg Hart, Amazon vice-president of Echo, who is looking at ways Echo in future can link with your car to access TV, home lighting and other in-home stuff.

With drone manufacturer DJI, Ford is finding ways to link a vehicle with an airborne drone. The idea is potentially very useful in assisting emergency services to improve response times during natural disasters.

These are just two examples of how Ford is expanding out of its traditional role as an automotive manufacturer.

Ford’s future as a mobility innovator certainly includes development of fully autonomous self-driving vehicles, and Ford will triple the size of its testing fleet including 30 Fusion autonomous prototypes being evaluated on roads and test tracks in California, Arizona and Michigan.

In the technology on sensors, radar and LIDAR, the industry is moving quickly. Fields and Raj Nair, Ford chief technology officer, point to supplier Velodyne’s latest LIDAR unit that looks like an ice hockey puck and is called The Puck.

Its improved clarity and extended range are accompanied by a decrease it overall size. The Puck is small enough to mount within the side mirror housing of a car.

Fields didn't reveal any real secrets at the 2016 CES in Nevada. Those, he hinted, will be told next week on home ground at the North American Auto Show in Detroit.