4 mai 20
Fil d'Actus

Ford pauses development of autonomous vehicles

Mere days after scrapping an electric SUV for its luxury brand Lincoln, Ford is now also halting its autonomous-vehicle projects. The reason, in both cases: the OEM's terrible results – due in large part to the corona crisis.  

To put that into context: in the first quarter of last year, Ford turned a $1.1-billion profit. In Q1 2020, the manufacturer went $2 billion in the red. That result is likely to worsen in Q2, the first one to be entirely affected by COVID-19. 

One way to save cost is to halt the expensive development of autonomous vehicles. It's a delay, not a cancellation: the ambition to market Ford cars and trucks with a high degree of autonomy is being transplanted from 2021 to 2022. 

(pictured: Ford F-Vision Future electric and autonomous truck, showcased at the Hanover IAA Commercial Vehicles Motor Show in 2018).

Image: Shutterstock
 

Authored by: Frank Jacobs