Bill Ford predicts radical change to auto industry

(MENAFN- Arab News) In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal Bill Ford Chairman of Ford Motor Co. said the industry has an opportunity to redefine mobility much the same as Henry Ford did a century ago.

He sees a bright future for the industry but on different format from what we see at the moment.

According to Ford the automotive industry must begin to view itself as part of the larger field of transportation.

At the same time transportation itself is transforming with the emergence of alternative-fuel and electric vehicles connected and autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing services.

Ford's company has been involved in such efforts from partnering in the connected car-testing Mobility Transformation Center at the University of Michigan to producing the first aluminum-bodied F-150 pickup later this year.

The company has also been going through some transformations itself with new CEO Mark Fields taking over for Alan Mulally recently.

The gradual transition to the automotive future hasn't been completely smooth this June the company had to re-label mpg estimates for the second time in a year on hybrids and other models. But Ford's vision goes past improving existing fuel economy to completely retooling the car.

'No matter how clean and efficient vehicles are we simply cannot depend on selling more of them as they function today" he wrote. Ford said the challenge of fundamental redefinition has the potential to be a boon for the entire industry creating a '$130 billion business opportunity."

'The next 20 years will see a radical transformation of our industry" he wrote 'and will present many new ways of ensuring that my great-grandfather's dream of opening the highways for all mankind will remain alive and well in the 21st century and beyond."