Ford confirms it will eliminate Active Park Assist. The company has confirmed that the automatic parking assistant is one of the essential features in its cars. This feature has been featured in the Edge and Escape crossover SUVs, the F-150 pickup trucks, and the Mustang Mach-E electric crossover. This will save the automotive giant costs.
Ford’s COO Kumar Galhotra said this move will save Ford about $60 per car
Major automakers often use internal surveys they conduct among customers around the world, asking about the technologies onboard their cars or those they would like to have, which are key to manufacturers. Ford’s COO Kumar Galhotra said this move will save Ford about $60 per car, and given the number of cars Ford rolls off the line yearly, could result in annual savings of about $10 million a year.
Gadgets: they often end up being much more cumbersome and are ultimately forgotten
Some of the major car brands release gadgets designed to make driving easier, but they often end up being much more cumbersome and are ultimately forgotten. It’s even known that many users have never even used them or didn’t even know they were available.
Assistance: capable of finding a parking space and initiating parallel parking with the touch of a button until it’s parked
Ford definitely looked back at the books and has just made an executive decision to get rid of a futuristic feature in some of its cars that some find to be extremely useful. The system has evolved over time, since its launch during the third generation of the Focus. One of the biggest selling points, it’s capable of finding a parking space and initiating parallel parking with just the touch of a button until it’s perfectly parked.
“Data from connected vehicles is very important because it helps us see what we’re offering, whether customers are using it or not”
Ford’s decision is part of a broader effort by the automaker to save the company a total of $2 billion. This would be beneficial given that Ford projects a loss of between $5 billion and $5.5 billion for its electric vehicle division, the Model E. Ford’s COO explained, “Data from connected vehicles is very important because it helps us see what we’re offering, whether customers are using it or not.”
Galhotra: “Very, very few people are using it, so we may be removing that feature”
Ford realized that Active Park Assist wasn’t really being used by owners. In fact, anyone who’s tried it will have realized it’s very slow and capable of causing a significant traffic jam at the rear, so the brand has decided to remove it. “The automatic parking feature that allows the customer to parallel park automatically. Very, very few people are using it, so we may be removing that feature,” added the brand’s director of operations.
The bulk of the $2 billion savings is earmarked for a wide range of operations, from materials, weight, and manufacturing
With this decision, Ford is leaving it up to owners to choose which equipment or gadgets they want to add. The only condition is that not installing the systems means they can’t be activated on demand via wireless updates. This means the brand isn’t considering this option, at least not until autonomous cars become a reality. Therefore, we’ll have to wait and see.
With the elimination of the Active Park Assist, the bulk of the $2 billion savings is earmarked for a wide range of operations, from materials, weight, and manufacturing. And given Ford’s ability to access vehicle data, other conveniences could soon be eliminated. If they’re gadgets that don’t serve a useful purpose, the manufacturer will eventually eliminate them.
