Strategy and Governance > 

Global Mobility

Ford is expanding to become both an auto and mobility company. And by transforming to be a leader in both automotive and mobility, we are better positioned to help create a more sustainable world.

Why Mobility, Why Now?

The World is Changing Faster Than Ever Before

Some major global trends and shifting patterns of consumer behavior are driving the transportation revolution we see today:

Crowded Cities and Growing Populations

  • Air pollution and congestion
  • Strain on transportation systems and highways
  • Doubling of the global middle class by 2030 and more car ownership

Nature on the Edge

  • Growing demand for energy, water and raw materials
  • Climate change impacts from the use and manufacture of vehicles

Changing Consumer Priorities

  • New behaviors shaped by the digital world and sharing economy
  • Increasing appetite for ride sharing and different ways to own or use a car

Challenges and Opportunities for Ford and the Automotive Industry

  • Emerging opportunities in mobility are a substantial potential growth area and a strategic priority for Ford

  • The traditional business model no longer applies. There are significant organizational challenges as Ford expands into an auto and mobility company

  • The future shape of the industry and the regulatory framework governing future solutions are hard to predict in detail. Multi-stakeholder collaboration and partnering can help foster innovation and success

  • There will be winners and losers emerging from the disruptive, dynamic mobility space. Knowing where to play and how to win is key

Changing the Way the World Moves

Targeting Key Growth Areas and Emerging Opportunities

Ford Smart Mobility is our plan to lead in connectivity, autonomous vehicles, data analytics, the customer experience and mobility.

By pursuing emerging opportunities in key areas, including electrification, autonomy, and mobility services and solutions, we are driving future growth potential and responding to transportation challenges faced by cities across the globe.

Emerging Opportunities

  • Electrification

    Become a top player in electrified solutions

  • Autonomy

    Lead levelopment and application of fully autonomous vehicle technology and businesses

  • Mobility

    Develop services and business models

What We’ve Done and Where We’re Heading

Electrification: Building From a Strong Base and Investing to Remain a Top Player

More than 1,000 Ford electric vehicle patents

240% increase in electrification resources since 2010

$4.5 billion investment in electrified solutions: 13 new electric vehicles to come within the next five years

Ford is already a top player in U.S. electrification; our C-MAX and our Fusion Energi hybrids made Ford the best-selling brand of plug-in hybrids and we have sold 500,000 electric vehicles.

  Read more about electrification in the Products and Customers section

Autonomy: Marrying Our AV Technology Expertise With Our Proven Ability to Commercialize at Scale

  • Ford has been a leading player in autonomous vehicle (AV) technology development for more than 10 years
  • We plan to launch a Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Level 41 autonomous vehicle for mobility services
  • We’re testing Level 4 AVs with safety drivers on the road right now

Mobility: Offering Value to Customers and Cities

As we move from our traditional sales business to a holistic mobility system, there are significant opportunities for participating in far more transactions in order to offer unique value to customers:

Each minute in the U.S. 30 new vehicles are sold...

but there are countless more mobility opportunities

9 million miles traveled

450,000 bytes of vehicle data from a connected vehicle

125,000 taxis/ride-hailing vehicles on the road

500,000+ gigabytes of data transmitted on the internet

60,000 “shared” rides

350,000 cell phone apps downloaded

Source: Estimates based on government and industry data.

  • We’re focusing on two business models – owned and shared, which will provide transportation for passengers and goods

  • We have insights into mobility challenges and possibilities from more than 30 global mobility experiments

  • We have established a City Solutions team and are collaborating with the Bloomberg Philanthropies and a coalition of city mayors worldwide to incubate ideas and accelerate solutions

Data and Analytics

New Common Data and Analytics Platforms Are Underpinning Emerging Opportunities

  • Data and analytics have a central role in supporting customers with mobility products and services, and in extracting value from data

  • We have an efficient foundation of common and scalable platforms and tools, enabling us to accelerate past basic customer insights and transform the future customer experience

  • Our focus is on anticipating needs and developing new services that solve everyday problems – see the summary of FordPass developments below

Customer Privacy and Security: Our Paramount Responsibility

Ford recognizes the paramount importance of protecting information entrusted to us and we have established policies and procedures to ensure customer choice, privacy and responsible data handling.

FordPass – Transforming the Customer Experience

FordPass is a core part of our business model expansion to be both an auto and mobility company. Through FordPass we are focused on taking the consumer experience to the next level and transforming how consumers interact with Ford.

  • The FordPass app is designed to meet mobility needs “on the move” – from finding, reserving and paying for a parking spot downtown before leaving home to easy booking of service appointments and even a convenient way to connect with roadside assistance

  • Marketplace – access via the FordPass app to both owner and mobility services and partners

  • Appreciation – FordPass “perks” connect us with customers in new ways and reward members for engaging with Ford

  • Ford Guides – real people who provide the human touch in a digital world, helping members with any FordPass-related questions or needs

  • FordHub – a brand experience studio focusing on education, entertainment and collaboration, providing interactive experiences and activations, and creating a two-way dialogue with consumers

Year One Developments and Learning

Year one of FordPass has focused on launching and learning. Since April 2016:

  • We launched FordPass and “The Lincoln Way” – a similar app that features many of the standard FordPass features, such as the ability to remotely access and start your vehicle

  • More than 650,000 members globally have joined

  • There have been nearly 30 releases of the FordPass app across six countries and six languages, offering features and services that connect people’s daily activities with vehicles and a range of exciting mobility options

  • Ford Guides support the FordPass vision of a “personal assistant for mobility needs.” In the U.S., we have had more than 50,000 contacts to our Guides since we launched. Today, we have a global Guide footprint, with three locations covering every time zone around the world

  • We opened our first FordHub, in New York City, where consumers can enjoy immersive experiences and interact with our team of Guides in person. We continue to learn and evaluate from our New York Hub as part of formulating any future plans

Continuing the FordPass Journey

We have continued to add new and enhanced functionality to the FordPass app and services over the year. Since launching in the U.S. in April 2016 and in Canada in June 2016, FordPass members can now find a parking spot more easily, with the added ability to make reservations as well as see parking garages. Also in the U.S., we are partnering with San Francisco-based Chariot to develop dynamic shuttle services. Going forward, it is our intent to enable users to access Chariot through the FordPass app.

In China, we launched FordPass in November 2016. Our members in China now have access to a FordPass WeChat channel, where followers can keep up to date with FordPass news and chat with Ford Guides.

In Europe, we launched FordPass in Germany and the U.K. in September 2016 and in France in November 2016. In Germany, we partner with Deutsche Bahn Connect’s Flinkster to offer FordPass members 24/7 access to nationwide car sharing.

Over time we will continue to provide members with access to more mobility services that add value to daily lives.

Mobility Services for Underserved Communities

The Better World Learning Community (BWLC) is a multi-sector collaboration initiative integrating mobility and connectivity into existing programs through partnerships with owner/operator NGOs, businesses, governments, community groups and international organizations to deliver Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) services using Ford Motor Company vehicles.

The vehicles – called flexible response vehicles (FRVs) – are equipped with technologies enabling delivery of a suite of bundled services including health care, water, education, power and more to be delivered to underserved communities.

  1. Autonomous, with driver not required; geo-fenced (mapped areas, e.g., city environments that enable AV).