Ford is changing its focus: from being a carmaker to being a mobility company. The first step into that direction came with their app: FordPass, and now two more recently done announcements makes this suspicion stronger:
- Ford is buying a rideshare startup called Chariot.
- They are partnering with Motivate (the company behind all those Citibikes in NYC) to expand the San Francisco’s bike share program.
With these two investments and the app Ford’s plan becomes clear: evolve from being only a (old-fashioned?) carmaker to both a car and mobility company.
So what is Chariot?
Chariot is a company that operates a shuttle service around San Francisco.
What makes it a good alternative to public transpiration is that the shuttle costs around the same price as a normal buss ($3) and is equally reliable.
Chariot operates on 26 routes right now, which they got in an interesting way: the crowdsourced it. This way they only serve the neighborhoods that really need the shuttle service.
With the acquisition Chariot’s team will now join Ford and expand in other markets to grow further.
The partnership with Motivate.
Ford will be partnering with Motivate. This will result in an increase from 700 to 7000 shareable bikes and hundreds of pick-up and drop-off locations in the San Francisco area by 2018. This partnership will go further under the name “Ford GoBikes”.
And it comes all together in an app.
The FordPass app is an app that is quietly becoming a one-stop shop for all transportation needs. Ford owners can schedule maintenance with it, but also non-Ford owners can use the app to find parking, plan the most efficient route home and soon now: locate the nearest bike pick-up or book a shuttle. As Ford’s CEO explains: “We’re thinking about this as an ecosystem. How do the bikes not only serve a need… but also feed data that will allow us to provide them even more services? For example, if it’s going to rain, we can send them a note that says ‘you should take the shuttle, and here’s an incentive to do that?
As Henry Ford said: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Now, apparently, Ford moved to the rest of the farm.
Sources:
http://www.recode.net/2016/9/9/12860834/ford-chariot-motivate-gobike-san-francisco-mobility
https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/26/chariot-new-route/
http://www.recode.net/2016/9/9/12860834/ford-chariot-motivate-gobike-san-francisco-mobility
