Ford partners with Amazon to enable its vehicles to talk to home devices
Ford has announced a new partnership with Amazon in a move that will further digitise its vehicles and allow them to connect to devices in the home.
The car manufacturer is looking to take the lead in car-home integration and will work with Amazon to develop in-car software that will work with internet connected devices such as Amazon Echo.
Speaking ahead of this year’s CES in Las Vegas, Ford chief executive, Mark Fields, told Re/code that the he wanted to “put an exclamation point that we are moving from an auto company to an auto and mobility company”.
Fields highlighted the company’s commitment to smart integration saying that “what we want to do is move aggressively into home integrations with the car”.
Some of the ideas mentioned that could be developed through the integration with Amazon’s smart speaker included starting your car, checking the fuel levels or accessing the home-security system from the car.
Ford has also teamed up with Chinese drone firm DJI to coordinate communication between drones and its automobiles. One use proposed was using the drones alongside F-150 trucks in crisis areas in order to communicate information to the driver.
The car manufacturer revealed that it is stepping up its efforts in the development of its self-driving vehicles by tripling its testing fleet in order to make the autonomous vehicles available to the public within four years.