Tesla might have made some major announcements recently, but Ford CEO Mark Fields says his company not in the race to make announcements. Instead, Ford is busy focusing on how to make customer’s lives easier and building the car of the future.
“Our combination is an auto and a mobility company, and we think that makes a lot of sense for us. But we’re not in a race to make announcements. We are in a race to do what’s right for our customers, and what’s right for our business,” Fields said.
In an interview at Ford’s research and innovation center in Palo Alto, CA on Thursday, Fields described to Jim Cramer what the car of the future will look like.
“What I am most excited about here is the innovation that is going on. The innovation is who we are as a business, going back to Henry Ford,” Fields said.
Starting in 2015, Ford began conducting experiments all over the world to learn more about what works for its customers. It is currently working on new technology that includes connected vehicles, internet of things and autonomous driving capabilities.
Ford also entered into a partnership with Amazon in January. The partnership will allow Ford’s technology to connect via the cloud for customers to now interact with their home from their car.
Fields described a world in which drivers can turn on the pot roast in their kitchen, turn on the lights at home, deactivate security alarms and open the garage door all from their car, using the platform of Amazon’s Echo-powered technology, Alexa.
Ford is also working to incorporate smart parking into its cars through a number of mobility experiments. Cars will be equipped with sensors to calculate the location that will most likely have a parking space and save customers time.
“In most cities, 30 percent of the wasted fuel is people looking for spots. So how do we be part of the solution, this mobility solution for customers, make the world better and offer us a business opportunity,” Fields said.
Written by Abigail Stevenson | Published on cnbc.com | Original article here…