After over 100 years of business, Ford has remained a relevant staple in the United States and all over the world. Honestly, they were the only company that weathered the economic recession of 2008 without government help. Earlier this month, an article on Blasting News discussed Fords commitment to reducing their carbon footprint. That article discussed Ford's move to become involved in the various bike share programs that have popped up in major cities everywhere. This is just one of the many business decisions Ford has made, as of late, in order to keep up with a global consumer base with varying needs and a environmentally conscious buyer.
Brand new office in London
Ford believes that its' expertise in transportation can be of advantage to international markets in more ways than your average car manufacturing powerhouse. Ford recently opened a brand new office in a brand new state of the art building in London. This branch of Ford focuses on clean technology in transportation. On a global scale, London want to solidify itself as a hub for technology investing, and this is a huge step in that direction. The purpose of this branch of Ford in the UK is focused on the mobility solutions for Europe.
This office is slated to open later this year and will employ more than 40 people. Their first major project will be the testing of a full transit fleet of plug-in hybrids in the UK.
This will be the 3rd such office that Ford has (There are also branches of this department in Palo Alto, California and Dearborn, Michigan.).
In order to bolster these advances, Ford announced to invest $1 billion in Argo AI. The company is developing and perfecting artificial intelligence for autonomous vehicle technology.
Argo AI has corporate offices in Pittsburgh, Southeast Michigan, and the San Francisco Bay area, major American centers for technology development.
Detroit Auto Show and Press Conference
The Detroit Auto Show took place in early January. Ford dropped a lot of serious news at this show, big news. First, they plan to introduce 13 new models of electrified vehicles by 2021, such as a Mustang model.
But, the biggest bomb of them all, the Ranger and the Bronco are on their way back.
Both vehicles will be produced with American seat and hard work at their plant in Wayne, Michigan. The Ranger will roll out of the plant for 2019, and the Bronco will come the following year. Both vehicles will be built on a body-of-frame platform. This build style will make the vehicle a little bit bigger than their predecessors and so both will be listed under the mid-size category.
The Ranger is said to be like an upgraded version of the Ranger that is still sold in places like Thailand and South Africa. The whole front face of the truck as been complete beefed up and the inside is said to be upgraded for the American consumer.
It was reported that the Chevy Colorado and the Toyota Tacoma will be two of it's biggest competitors.
The Bronco was shelved on 1996. I guess fans of the truck had their voices heard. The new Bronco is slated to be smaller than the previous Bronco II but bigger than the original Bronco. This truck will also come with an off-road model that comes with upgrades for the adventurous. The Jeep Wrangler is said to be one of it's biggest future competitors.
Ford was, is, and will remain ahead of the rest in the car manufacturing world. They have diversified themselves in the right ways to make sure they evolve with their consumers.