Ford president and CEO Mark Fields will announce his company will triple its research budget for driver-assist technology at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday.
Fields also used his keynote speech to announce the new Kuga SUV, and that the company's Sync 3 and Fordpass connectivity software will be expanded to European customers.
The list of semi-autonomous and safety technologies currently prioritized by Ford is impressive.
They include traffic-jam assist, fully-active park assist, pre-collision assist with pedestrian detection, intelligent speed limiter, and three autonomous vehicle research centers in California, Michigan, and Germany.
Though some of this is news from Ford, Fields' speech is on message with a constant theme from Ford executives as of late.
"Fields’ keynote at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will focus on Ford’s transition from an automotive company to an auto and a mobility company," a Ford press release about the event said.
Just last week we heard similar language from executive chairman Bill Ford, who said in a speech in Kansas City that his company would be at the forefront of a technological revolution in the industry as dynamic as the change "from horses to automobiles."
"We are rapidly becoming both an auto company and a mobility company," Ford said, echoing the same riff.
