US automobile major Ford Motor has embarked on the next phase of Ford Smart Mobility plan that involves implementation of its innovative ideas in connectivity, mobility and autonomous vehicles.
Riding high on new pilot projects and mobility product experiments, Ford has garnered inputs on customer experience and data since the introduction of the plan in January. It has conducted so far 25 experiments in that direction.
Ford executive chairman Bill Ford said: "My great-grandfather helped put the world on wheels so everyone could enjoy the benefits of mobility.
"Our vision today is to expand that same thinking using advanced technology and new business models, and addressing the mobility challenges people face around the world."
Ford has so far identified two strategic areas - flexible use and ownership of vehicles, and multimodal urban travel solutions.
Ford president and CEO Mark Fields said: "We now are moving from experimentation to implementation.
"We have learned a lot in the past six months, and now are ready to put insights into action. Our goal is to make people's lives better by helping them more easily navigate through their day, address societal issues and, over time, change the way the world moves - just as Henry Ford did more than 100 years ago."
As part of the initiatives, Ford Motor Credit has unveiled pilot project Peer-2-Peer Car Sharing in six US cities and London, extending invitation to 14,000 and 12,000 customers to provide their Ford Credit-financed cars as rented vehicle to prescreened drivers.
Besides, the company has unveiled GoDrive, which is an on-demand public car-sharing pilot program, throwing open a fleet of cars for one-way journeys with affordable access andan easy parking throughout London.
