Ford announced yesterday that it will make its BlueCruise semi-autonomous driving system standard on many of its future vehicles.
In doing so, Ford is borrowing a chapter from Tesla's book in the war it is now waging against the company that dominates the electric vehicle market.
With the exception of the Mustang Mach-E SUV, what Ford has offered so far is the option to buy the technology upfront when purchasing a new vehicle. From now on, the technology will be included in approximately 500,000 2024 models in North America, both Ford and Lincoln products. Basically, we're talking about the F-150 (gasoline and electric), the Expedition SUV, as well as the Navigator and Nautilus SUVs on the Lincoln side.
With this announcement, Ford is confirming what it said it wanted to do last May.
This approach has both pros and cons. What's interesting is that buyers won't have to decide in advance whether they want the system, and more importantly, whether they want to pay for it. It will be there, ready to be used when needed. When the car is resold, it will also be interesting for the second owner to get a model equipped with the technology, even if the first owner didn't use it.
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The downside, of course, is the price, as nothing is free. For the moment, the measure has only been announced on Ford's American site, but we can expect the same kind of offer on the Canadian side... eventually.
As for prices south of the border, Ford will charge customers $2,100 at the time of ordering. This amount guarantees three years of service. Free trials will be offered, and those who want to try it out will be charged $75 per month, or $800 per year.
Again, this is similar to what Tesla offers.
A good thing for those who want to take advantage of the technology, but not so good for the wallet as we see more and more of these options turning into paid subscriptions for the consumer. It's just another way to squeeze money out of customers.
Note that customers always have the option to say no. While a semi-autonomous driving system can be fun, it's completely unnecessary in a vehicle.