Wie Ford sich an die Frage des Geschäftsmodells für selbstfahrende Autos herantastet

Gute Übersicht über die Herangehensweise bei Ford, um herauszufinden, wie genau der Autohersteller künftig Geld mit selbstfahrenden Vehikeln verdienen kann. Axios:

• Ford invested $1 billion in Argo AI, a tiny Pittsburgh-based artificial intelligence company with a handful of employees in February 2017.
• It offered lucrative stakes in the company to lure talent from Uber, Apple and Waymo, among others.
• Including Argo AI, Ford now has more than 800 people working on autonomous technology.
• The carmaker recently carved out its AV project as a separate business, to accelerate development and attract investors.
• The company expects to invest $4 billion in its AV efforts through 2023.

Technologie ist eine Sache, das Geschäftsmodell eine andere.

• [Ford CEO Jim Hackett] says automated goods delivery has as much promise as driverless taxis. With its partners‘ insights, Ford is designing a purpose-built autonomous vehicle it will introduce in 2021. […]

The details:

• Ford is studying ride-hailing patterns with its partner, Lyft, to identify spikes in demand.
• During slower times, it looks to deploy vehicles for other purposes, like delivering flowers or dry cleaning for local businesses.
• In Miami, Ford is testing automated pizza delivery with Domino’s, and robot package delivery with Postmates.

Es ergibt Sinn, Ford diesbezüglich genauer im Auge zu behalten.

Neben der einen Milliarde $, die Ford in Argo AI investieren will, verkündete der US-Hersteller im Sommer diesen Jahres, bis 2023 weitere drei Milliarden $ in seine AV-Einheit zu investieren.