“Ford is in the technology business,” Kamal Ahmed reports for BBC News. “Yes, it makes cars but that is now only part of its operations.”
“The company’s chief executive has revealed that it’s working on the assumption that its major rivals in the future may not be General Motors or Chrysler,” Ahmed reports. “But Google and Apple. And that the latter is probably building a car. ‘Our working assumption is that they are,’ Mark Fields told me.”
Ahmed reports, “‘There are a lot of new non-traditional competitors who are looking at the automotive space and looking at that addressable market and saying ‘gee can we get a piece of that,’ [Fields said.] ‘We are viewing that as an opportunity not as a threat and there will be some things [we can do] on our own to be able to satisfy those customer needs that technology enables. And at other times we will partner with others and that’s the reason we set up a big research and innovation centre in Palo Alto because we want to collaborate with and participate in that environment.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Even the best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.
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The auto industry that Ford exemplifies is not what Apple wants a piece of. They flatter themselves. They are the industry that the Apple car will supersede. Apple will define the future of personal transport within 10 years.
But as participants in that industry today, Ford’s approach seems much more reasonable and realistic than some other players that echoed the statements of 2006-7 (“PC guys aren’t just going to walk in and figure it out…”).
We’ve heard from a few automakers who proclaimed that Apple has zero chance of getting into the car industry and they “aren’t scared of Apple”.
Ford, meanwhile, clearly acknowledges where the next threat will come from and at least tries to fortify that flank. How well they’ll do it remains to be seen, but I’m sure they will be in a better position to fight than all those others who dismissed Apple outright.
As long as they see it as a threat, their head is in the wrong place. When they see it as the next great opportunity then they stand a chance, but not as long as they are trying to hold back the end of the ICE age.
Glad to see that Ford leadership is clear headed about who their future competitors might be. But that still may not be enough to save them.
It is inherently difficult for them. despite all these years to develop something new and different in approach practical all car makers have done little other than dip their toe in the water and play at it because they can’t simply change their thinking and approach. For that they need someone to show them the way and tesla from nothing absolutely has already shown that fact because its coming from a different angle. It was the same with Microsoft, Palm and the phone makers and indeed even the computer industry generally, they keep trying to improve and adapt what they already do in fear of losing what has made them relevant. There are always people within who see it and try to change it but the powers that be will always stop the change that these people see and uselessly bang their head trying to put the message across. Usually by the time they see it, as their traditional market fades away through the competition from these new companies entering the market place, its too late for them, they no longer even have the profits to do the job to catch up and compete, let alone the will and knowledge base to do so. Most of the clear minded ones have already jumped ship.
The car industry can plan, build and deploy plants quickly and efficiently. It has a large installed dealer network for every brand.
It is well financed and can manipulate pricing to suit its needs.
Nothing in an electric car is necessarily proprietary.
That’s THE SALESMAN mentality. Delearship, network, finance balh blah blah. Well some of the biggest mobile companies in the world got buried in a span of just about 10 years with that kind of mentality.
The level of Delusion in these Auto guys are just baffling. They have no imagination to begin with and yet talk about being industry leaders. In the past, money and power kept them on top. They would hire the best minds but keep them on the tight lease coz they themselves understands very little. But this time its different. Now the creatives have risen to the top. Its a very bad time for CEOs with MBA or Sales background, coz they understands only money laundering……………….
THE GEEK SHALL INHERIT THE WORLD………AMEN.