The year 2021, Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields announced earlier this year, is when the company will be “mass producing vehicles with full autonomy,” in a ride-hailing or ride-sharing service. Fields expects these cars to hit the consumer market by 2025.

At the same time, Ford has come under the spotlight recently in view of what analysts have said is a paltry investment into mobility startups compared with other automakers, despite the fact that Ford recently stated that “autonomous vehicles could account for up to 20 percent of vehicle sales by the end of the next decade.”

In response to seemingly lean investments, earlier this week Fields said in an interview, “Don’t confuse activity for progress.” He added that Ford must invest wisely: “It will take time to scale some of these new businesses.”

In a press release this week, Fields expanded on the topic of investments. “We’ve been making important decisions and have agreed on three key principles to guide future capital allocation: where to play, where not to play and how to win,” he said.

On Wednesday, Ford announced that it expects profits to decline in 2017 due to “increasing investments and costs for emerging opportunities,” although the company also said that this will soon turn around.

Ford’s evolution

Execs at Ford were interviewed by theCube at Ford Innovation Day concerning the company’s evolution into what our own John Furrier called, “an innovative, consumer-driven technology company.” The challenge, said Furrier, is along the lines of Ford’s “cultural shift” – from a behemoth of automobile manufacturing, into the technology milieu. Ford literally and physically shifted in 2015 when it opened up shop in Silicon Valley.

In the words of Ken Washington, Ford’s vice president of research and advanced engineering, “Now we’re working it pretty well here, as a member of the Silicon Valley community.” Washington told theCube that this is a “pivotal time in human history” leading to a future in which Ford will be making autonomous vehicles for the masses. “We’ve got the right capabilities to pull it off,” he said.

Photo credit: Photopin cc