Beyond The Robo-Taxi: Great Customer Experiences Will Define Self-Driving

By Jim Farley, President, New Business, Technology and Strategy, Ford Motor Company

When most people talk about why autonomous vehicles will be successful, they tend to focus on the self-driving software alone. Don’t get me wrong, the self-driving system is incredibly important to develop, but it’s just one part of building a safe and scalable self-driving service that consumers can trust.

As we look to the initial launch of a commercial self-driving service in 2021, Ford is focused on what it will take for customers to embrace the technology, trust us enough to take a ride, and keep coming back.

Focusing on the customer experience is critical because the opportunities for Ford and the self-driving industry are massive. In the years to come, self-driving vehicles could help expand access to transportation, jobs and goods across numerous cities. At Ford, we know all of this is possible if you build a service — on top of the software — that provides an experience centered around the customer and the customer journey every step of the way.

As we ramp up our focus on tackling the customer-facing aspects of our self-driving service, we are excited to welcome Scott Griffith to the team at Ford Autonomous Vehicle LLC. Previously the CEO of Zipcar, Scott is taking on the critical role of leading the development and execution of our go-to-market strategy. His responsibilities will include further developing Ford’s autonomous vehicle brand and marketing, defining the customer experience and product attributes needed to deliver this vision, and building out the company’s fleet management and regional operations.

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