Recently, Ford Motor Company has released a statement that said will begin a mass production of self-driving vehicles for ride-hailing and car-sharing transportation by the year 2021. With this, it has raised question over this voiced plan of Ford.

Who will buy this self-driving vehicle, now that there are existing companies that offer the same service and seemed to have already closed deals with other automakers? Right away, it is feared that there was a possibility that Ford will be left out in the future.

But then, there is also a possibility that there will be something dramatic behind Ford's plan on self-branded ride hailing transport service.Using self-driving fleet Fusion Hybrids, Ford develops its first self-driving production vehicle that will soon hit the market.

To specify details of driverless Ford, it will be a hybrid. It is also anticipated that since it will be around-the-clock use, it will diminish the significant downtime for recharging.

Ford plans to mass-produce a level 4 self-driving vehicle. By level 4, it means the ride-hailing and car-sharing fleets will be limited to specially mapped areas, specifying major urban areas and some highway corridors that connects them.

According to the Ford's CTO and product chief, Raj Neir, the vehicle is being designed "specifically for commercial mobility" and it is being crafted as an all-new vehicle and not based on any existing Ford model.

Looking back on the question on who will buy them? UberTechnology comes to mind. As the company has its own self-driving research and development program, also with the fact that they signed a deal to buy self-driving vehicles from Daimler.

That alone makes Uber a potential market for Ford's hybrid vehicles. Is this is, if not whole, part of the plan? Well. Who can tell?

Keep checking back on Auto World News for more updates. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.  

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