Ford Mobility has acquired Autonomic and TransLoc in hopes to deliver “broad suite” of mobility products.

Ford’s mobility strategy is to deliver a range of products and services that encompass vehicles, infrastructure, connectivity and digital services.

Ford Mobility’s president Marcy Kleyorn (pictured): “We believe transportation done right – as part of a systems approach – can bring life back to our cities,”

“By accelerating our delivery of mobility services through the changes we are making today, we are enabling that revival, enhancing our competitiveness and creating long-term value for Ford shareholders.”

To support this shift to innovation and delivery at speed, the company today is announcing an agreement to acquire Autonomic, a Palo Alto, California-based technology company that specialises in scale, architecture and leverage for transportation industry solutions.

Ford’s acquisition of Autonomic will accelerate the automaker’s mission to establish the Transportation Mobility Cloud platform and support its plans to scale up other key mobility initiatives, including the drive toward full connectivity, Chariot and non-emergency medical transportation.

Ford also is announcing the acquisition of TransLoc, a Durham, North Carolina-based provider of demand-response technology for city-owned microtransit solutions.

Acquiring TransLoc allows Ford to leverage its operational expertise, network of city relationships, and proven track record of providing solutions to cities globally that can improve the rider experience with dynamic routing.

The terms of these acquisitions are not being disclosed.

Ford also is announcing the reorganisation of the teams developing and scaling mobility solutions

The new groups are:

• Ford X: Ford’s acquisition of Autonomic will serve as the cornerstone for its new Ford X team. Part of Ford Smart Mobility LLC, Ford X will oversee the Transportation Mobility Cloud platform; the Ford X Accelerator, a new group dedicated to quick incubation of potential products and services; and new mobility businesses early in their development.
• Mobility Business Group: With responsibility for scaling the company’s existing mobility businesses, Ford Smart Mobility LLC’s new Mobility Business Group will oversee Ford Commercial Solutions; Ford’s microtransit businesses including Chariot and the nonemergency medical transportation unit; FordPass and digital services, including those supporting autonomous vehicle businesses, in-vehicle services and personal vehicle ownership; and future businesses once they mature following their incubation within Ford X.
• Mobility Platforms and Products: Ford Mobility’s product solutions group will lead design and development for the technology underpinning Ford’s mobility businesses, including connectivity, FordPass platform elements, vehicle management as a service, transportation as a service, its autonomous vehicle partnership platform and foundational platforms.
• Mobility Marketing and Growth: To drive demand with consumers and commercial and city customers, and to ensure the voice of the customer is heard throughout the organisation, Ford Smart Mobility LLC is establishing a global marketing and sales team. This group brings together Ford’s City Solutions team, its regional Ford Smart Mobility leads, TransLoc, and related marketing and sales talent into one organisation.
•  

With the new organisation, several leadership appointments also are being announced:

• Sunny Madra, CEO and cofounder of Autonomic, will join Ford as vice president, Ford X.
• Marion Harris, chief financial officer, Ford Credit, will be named vice president, MobilityBusiness Group.
• Rich Strader, who is named vice president, Mobility Platforms and Products.
• Brett Wheatley, director, Ford Marketing, Sales and Service Fitness Transformation, is appointed vice president, Mobility Marketing and Growth.

 

This year, Ford expects to accelerate and launch businesses in the following areas:

• Transportation operating system: The company’s open, cloud-based platform – the Transportation Mobility Cloud that manages information flow and basic transactions between a variety of components in the transportation ecosystem – will be expanded beyond Ford to include other automakers, suppliers, partners and cities; a developer network to build and support the system also will be launched.
• Connectivity: Preparing to deliver digital services to personal, fleet and city customers, Ford’s mobility team will deliver on the company’s commitment of 100 percent connectivity of new vehicles in the United States by 2019 and push toward its goal of 90 percent connectivity globally by 2020.
• Ride sharing: Chariot, the cornerstone of Ford’s microtransit solutions, will see an acceleration of city launches globally this year; launches will be based on a major shift in focus to the unit’s enterprise business, which provides employee transportation services for businesses. Just last week, Ford announced the launch of service in Columbus, Ohio – Chariot’s fifth city.
• Non-emergency medical transportation: Tapping into the growing healthcare transportation market, Ford Mobility will expand its non-emergency medical transportation operation from a Southeast Michigan pilot with Beaumont Health into a full business serving multiple medical systems.
• Vehicle Management as a Service: Founded in 2017, Ford Commercial Solutions is leveraging vehicle connectivity to deliver data services and fleet optimisation to the commercial segment, building on the automaker’s historical strength in serving fleet customers. Ford Commercial Solutions will expand its offerings globally this year.