Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) plans to start selling driverless cars by 2025, CEO Mark Fields revealed in a speech on Monday. The company intends to reduce the cost of these cars to make them affordable for everyone, and not just luxury car buyers.
Before introducing these cars for individual customers, however, Ford expect to launch fully autonomous SAE level 4-capable vehicles for ride-hailing and ride-sharing companies around 2021. Last month, Ford had revealed that these robot cars will not have a steering wheel, gas or brake pedals. To achieve this target, the company is investing in or collaborating with four startups, namely Velodyne, SAIPS, Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC and Civil Maps (read more: Ford Set to Launch Fully Autonomous Vehicle by 2021).
Further, Ford will triple its fleet of fully autonomous Ford Fusion Hybrid test vehicles to 30 by the end of the year. This will make the fleet the largest of its kind in the industry. The company will again expand the fleet three folds in 2017. Ford’s autonomous vehicles are being tested on the roads of California, Arizona and Michigan.
Apart from Ford, many other major automobile and technology companies are making significant investments in self-driving car technology (read more: Your Ultimate Guide to the Self-Driving Car Market). In fact, nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup, already runs six self-driving taxis in Singapore. Currently, the company is offering free rides to select customers to test the vehicle in the presence of a driver and a researcher. Even ride-hailing service Uber plans to start offering self-driving cars in Pittsburg soon.
Zacks Rank
Ford currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Some better-ranked automobile stocks include Spartan Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:SPAR) , Superior Industries International, Inc. (NYSE:SUP) and Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. (NYSE:CPS) . All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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FORD MOTOR CO (F): Free Stock Analysis Report
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