Ford said Tuesday it will delay plans to launch an autonomous vehicle service to 2022, as the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the company to rethink its go-to-market strategy.
The news was shared as part of Ford’s quarterly earnings which was released after market closed Tuesday.
Ford is a bit different from other companies that have launched autonomous vehicle pilots in the United States. The automaker has been pursuing two parallels tracks that were supposed to eventually combine ahead of a planned commercial launch in 2021. The automaker is testing and honing in on what its AV business model might look like, while separately developing autonomous vehicle technology.
Argo AI, the Pittsburgh-based company into which Ford invested $1 billion in 2017, is developing the virtual driver system and high-definition maps designed for Ford’s self-driving vehicles. Ford has been testing its go-to-market strategy through pilot programs with partners like Walmart, Domino’s and Postmates, and even some local businesses.
Ford said Tuesday that it needs to study the long-term impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on customer behaviors.
Here is the statement from Ford in response to questions about its autonomous vehicle plans.
Given the challenges of the current business environment, as well as the need to evaluate the long-term impact of COVID-19 on customer behaviors, Ford made the decision to shift the launch of its self-driving services to 2022. Understanding customer behavior is a critically important part of building a new mobility service built around trust and making people’s lives easier. Taking the time to research changes in customer behaviors provides Ford with an opportunity to evaluate and potentially change our go-to-market strategy to meet new consumer demands. As part of this evaluation, we also want to make sure the customer experience we are building offers people peace of mind knowing they, or their packages, are in a safe and protected environment inside our vehicles.
In a slide shared as part of the company’s quarterly earnings call, Ford reported that its investment in Argo is on track
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Written by Kirsten Korosec
This news first appeared on https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/28/ford-postpones-autonomous-vehicle-service-until-2022/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29 under the title “Ford postpones autonomous vehicle service until 2022”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
