Ford Motor (F) - Get Reportbecomes the latest global automaker to announce concrete plans to manufacture a self-driving vehicle, saying it will offer a model without driver controls such as a steering wheel by 2021.
CEO Mark Fields unveiled Ford's plan in Palo Alto, Calif., where the automaker intends to expand test development laboratories and double its staff of high-tech experts to 260 in the next year or so. Initially, the vehicle will be aimed at ride-sharing such as Uber and delivery fleets.
Also, Ford said it is investing $150 million, with Baidu (BIDU) - Get Report , in Velodyne Lidar of Morgan Hill, Calif., the maker of LiDAR sensing technology.
This is far from Ford's first effort at expanding into driverless technology. The automaker purchased an Israeli high-tech startup, SAIP, that specializes in machine learning and has an exclusive licensing agreement with Nirenberg Neuroscience, which specializes in machine vision. Last month, Ford said it is investing in Civil Maps, a Berkeley, Calif.-based company developing precise and detailed locational and 3-D mapping.
Fields has been leading a strategy to push the company towards a future characterized by advanced mobility, a term describing business ventures organized around a high degree of vehicle sharing and driverless technology. The transition to driverless technology will have "just as significant an impact on society as Ford's moving assembly line did more than 100 years ago," he said.
Automakers including General Motors (GM) - Get Report ,Toyota (TM) - Get Report and Volkswagen (VLKAY) have announced broad strategies to develop autonomous technology and offer driverless or highly automated models. Ford had been relatively quiet but earlier in the year, Jim Hackett, a Ford director left the automaker's board and took charge of Ford Smart Mobility unit.
Ford specifically described the vehicle -- which so far hasn't been named -- as embodying "level 4" autonomy, a designation on a five-level scale that means it can operate safely without a driver within a limited area. Level 5 autonomy, as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers, means fully driverless on all roadways.
Last January, rumors swirled that Ford was about to announce a partnership with Alphabet's (GOOG) - Get ReportGoogle subsidiary, which is developing a driverless vehicle. Media reports of talks between the two were never confirmed. Google, meanwhile, signed a deal to develop prototype driverless minivans with Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) - Get Report.
"Our presence in Silicon Valley has been integral to accelerating our learning and deliverables driving Ford Smart Mobility," said Ken Washington, Ford vice president of research and advanced engineering. "Our goal was to become a member of the community. Today, we are actively working with more than 40 startups, and have developed a strong collaboration with many incubators, allowing us to accelerate development of technologies and services."
Several high-tech companies like Uber and Baidu, the Chinese search company, have said they intend to offer driverless services, despite no direct manufacturing experience.
Raj Nair, Ford's executive vice president and chief technical officer, said his company has "a strategic advantage because of our ability to combine the software and sensing technology with the sophisticated engineering necessary to manufacture high-quality vehicles. That is what it takes to make autonomous vehicles a reality for millions of people around the world."
Doron Levin is the host of "In the Driver Seat," broadcast on SiriusXM Insight 121, Saturday at noon, encore Sunday at 9 a.m.
This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
