Ford Investing $4B in Autonomous Vehicles
Ford Motor Co. has established a new self-driving-vehicle business unit, and will invest $4 billion through 2023 to better organize and accelerate its efforts to commercialize autonomous vehicles, Ford has announced.

Ford is investing $4 billion in a new autonomous vehicle business unit.
Chart courtesy of Ford.
Ford Motor Co. has established a new self-driving-vehicle business unit, and will invest $4 billion through 2023 to better organize and accelerate its efforts to commercialize autonomous vehicles, Ford has announced.
The $4 billion investment counts Ford's $1 billion investment in Argo AI that was announced in February of 2017. At the time, the company said it was hoping to introduce a fully autonomous ride-hailing vehicle by 2021. The new unit, Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC, is based at Ford's Corktown campus in Detroit. It will include Ford's self-driving systems integration, autonomous vehicle research and advanced engineering, autonomous vehicle transportation-as-a-service network development, user experience, business strategy, and business development teams.
Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC will hold the ownership stake in Argo AI, which is based in Pittsburgh. Sherif Marakby will lead the new unit as its chief executive officer. He leaves his role as a vice president of autonomous vehicles and electrification. He'll report to a board of directors chaired by Marcy Klevorn, an executive vice president and president of mobility with Ford.
In a corresponding move, Ted Cannis will lead Team Edison — the team responsible for developing the company's next generation of battery-electric vehicles. Cannis remains the global director of electrification, while Team Edison continues to report to Jim Farley, executive vice president and president of global markets.
For is also realigning its information technology and global order-to-delivery teams under its global operations unit. The move will help the company accelerate the integration and application of technology across its industrial system to streamline manufacturing, speed vehicle delivery times, reduce inventories, and improve capital efficiency.
Ford is also developing a deeper product lineup of trucks, vans, and utility vehicles as it moves its focus away from passenger cars. The company is replacing three quarters of its lineup by 2020 and adding four new trucks and SUVs. Hai Thai-Tang, executive vice president of product development and purchasing, will now report to Jim Hackett, Ford's chief executive.
Ford is cutting vehicle development time by shifting to five flexible architechtures, including body-on-frame, front-wheel-drive unibody, rear-wheel-drive unibody, commercial van unibody, and battery-electric vehicles.
"We're looking at every part of our business, making it more fit and ensuring that every action we take is driven by what will serve our customers in a way that supports our fitness and performance goals," Hackett said.
The organizational changes will go into effect on Aug. 1.
Related: Ford Invests $1B Toward 2021 Autonomous Vehicle
More Safety

Top 50 Executive Fleets
It is that time of year again! Time for the 2026 list of the Top 50 Executive Fleets, presented by Automotive Fleet and Volvo as part of its annual Fleet 500. Download now to see this year's list of companies!
Read More →How Better Visibility Cut Speeding Violations by 48%
Fleet leaders don't need more data, they need clearer visibility into what the data is saying. This case study explores how one utility replaced speeding-event counts with a single metric — miles driven in violation — to strengthen safety and significantly reduce speeding violations.
Read More →
Operation Safe Driver Week: Why the Industry's Oldest Safety Campaign Still Matters to Fleets
A look at how a 2007 enforcement initiative became one of the most consequential weeks on the fleet safety calendar, and what it means for your drivers in 2026.
Read More →
Nexar-Nauto Merger Aims to Give Fleets Better Safety Intelligence Through Larger Driving Dataset
Stefan Heck tells Automotive Fleet that combining more than 10 billion miles of driving history with Nexar's AI models will give fleets deeper insights into driver risk and roadway conditions than either company could provide independently.
Read More →From Silos to Solutions: Relationship Management for Safer Fleets
From telematics adoption and driver accountability to policy consistency and risk mitigation, this episode breaks down what it really takes to build a safer fleet culture without slowing business down.
Read More →
IIHS Launches First Commercial Vehicle Safety Evaluations
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has begun evaluating heavy-duty pickups and cargo vans for driver protection. Which models earned top marks?
Read More →
Reducing Risk by Eliminating Phone Use Behind the Wheel
Hosted with the cofounder of Lifesaver Mobile, this episode addresses phone use behind the wheel and how to design a driving environment that actually helps prevents accidents.
Read More →
Cameras, Safety and Insurance: From Reactive Claims to Real-Time Prevention (Part 2 of 2)
Part Two: Commercial auto remains one of the most challenging and costly lines of coverage for fleet operators and insurers alike. Continue learning more about how to effectively address these issues from Onur Aksan, Enterprise Business Development Executive, Geotab
Read More →
How 5-Second Telematics Data Is Changing Fleet Safety
This episode connects with Steve Santostasi of Ford Pro and covers how a few seconds of data can make a difference in fleet safety.
Read More →
The Two Biggest Summer Downtime Threats for Fleets
A conversation with a maintenance expert reveals the two most common summer maintenance pains and how to prevent them.
Read More →