Ford Invests in Cloud-based Software Company: The New Hardware?

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f software is becoming the new hardware in the transportation industry, Ford may be leading the way.

The company has just announced an investment in Pivotal, a cloud-based software platform company headquartered in San Francisco.

The $182.2 million investment in Pivotal, according to Ford, “aims to help drive Ford’s transition to an auto and a mobility company.”

What is clear is that Ford is aggressively pursuing emerging opportunities through Ford Smart Mobility – to be a leader in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience, and data and analytics.

“Expanding our business to be both an auto and mobility company requires leading-edge software expertise to deliver outstanding customer experiences,” said Mark Fields, Ford president and CEO. “Our investment in Pivotal will help strengthen our ability to deliver these customer experiences at the speed of Silicon Valley, including continually expanding FordPass® – our digital, physical and personal mobility experience platform.”

Ford recently teamed up with Pivotal to deliver FordPass, an innovative consumer experience platform that launched last month. FordPass will offer new customer services, like remote access to vehicles through a smartphone app, and mobility solutions, such as parking and car sharing.

Category: Connected Fleet News