Ford commits $4 billion to autonomous vehicles, forms new subsidiary

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday said its investments in autonomous-vehicle development are expected to total $4 billion through 2023 and that it has formed a subsidiary devoted to those efforts called Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC.The subsidiary will be be based primarily at the campus Ford is creating in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood and led by Sherif Marakby, a Ford vice president who spent a year heading Uber's autonomous-vehicle program before rejoining Ford in 2017. It will have its own board of directors chaired by Marcy Klevorn, Ford's president of mobility.The new LLC will be the entity charged with fulfilling Ford's promise to launch a self-driving commercial vehicle at scale in 2021. It includes the automaker's self-driving systems integration, autonomous vehicle research and advanced engineering, AV transportation-as-a-service network development, user experience, business strategy and business development teams."Ford has made tremendous progress across the self driving value chain — from technology development to business model innovation to user experience," Ford CEO Jim Hackett said in a statement. "Now is the right time to consolidate our autonomous driving platform into one team to best position the business for the opportunities ahead."Ford shares rose after the announcement, gaining 2.2 percent in midday trading. The shares finished the day up 1 percent, closing at $10.57 in New York. The $4 billion in AV spending includes $1 billion that Ford has committed to investing in Argo AI, a Pittsburgh startup that has become its partner in self-driving system development. Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC will hold the ownership stake in Argo AI that Ford received in exchange.

Ford commits $4 billion to autonomous vehicles, forms new subsidiary

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