Vehicle manufacturer Ford predicts a future of diminishing car ownership

IT’S the frank admission from Ford which says there simply isn’t enough room in our cities for everyone to have a vehicle. But their next step is even more surprising.

Ford Australia says its future is no longer as a ‘pure automobile company’.

THE company that made car ownership achievable for the masses a century ago with the Ford Model-T now says its future lies beyond motoring.

Ford is “no longer purely an automotive company” its Australian head has declared.

Talking to news.com.au on the sidelines of last week’s Future with Ford conference in Melbourne, president and CEO of Ford Australia Graeme Whickman, also acknowledged the days of unfettered car ownership we’re over, saying “we just can’t keep adding cars to the road.”

The US car brand is investing in a range of out-there solutions to ease congestion and its burden on the environment including delivery vans with drones and using natural materials — such as tequila plants — to build cars.

Ford Australia President Graeme Whickman says car companies can’t keep adding vehicles to congested roads.

They even tried to make cabling from the tomato skins discarded by Heinz ketchup factories.

Mr Whickman spoke to news.com.au alongside Sheryl Connelly, Ford’s in-house futurologist, whose job is to read the transportation tea leaves and predict how we will want to get around in decades to come.

The focus on the future comes six months after the last ever Australian-made Ford rolled off the production line.

“The biggest change now is patterns in urbanisation and a greater likelihood for people to live in city centres leading to gridlock,” Ms Connelly said.

The 1920s Ford Model-T was a revolution in mass production, made car ownership affordable and made Ford vehicles omnipresent on roads.

But the answer, she said, wasn’t more motorways. Just look at China.

“As a car consuming culture, China is in its infancy [yet] they have some of the most egregious congestion with commutes of four to five hours per day.

“They built a highway 50 lanes wide and they had a traffic jam that lasted 12 days long so we don’t think that’s the answer. Certainly parts of the world need more infrastructure but it’s not a silver bullet.”

Vehicles a in a traffic jam near a toll station in Beijing. Australia doesn’t want this. Picture: Reuters.

Mr Whickman echoed his futurist’s dire prediction. “The way we’re headed we just can’t keep adding cars to the roads we have. We need to live in a productive environment that’s healthy.”

In the future, Ford will focus less on people that want to own a car and more on those who simply need to use one now and again.

“We’re no longer purely an automotive company,” said Mr Whickman. “We see ourselves as a car and mobility company. We’re looking to broaden ourselves beyond our core of cars, trucks, SUVs and emerge in the space of mobility.”

Sheryl Connelly, Ford’s in-house futurologist.

The sharing economy, such as car sharing schemes, will become the norm with drivers accessing vehicles only when needed.

“Mobility might be multi-modal, it might come in terms of easily rechargeable batteries [for electric cars] and doesn’t come just on four wheels.”

Mr Whickman is referring to a number of new concepts including a car which comes with its own rechargeable scooter in the boot. It would allow commuters who work in busy CBDs to park further away from the office and scoot the rest of the journey.

The Autolivery is an electric van with its own delivery drone. “We can go where a van can’t access because of congestion, to get the parcel that last mile, maybe even 24 floors up a building,” said Mr Whickman.

Ford’s Autolivery concept delivery vehicle

He admits the vehicles are still some way from being in a showroom near you.

“They’re just concepts at the moment. Some of them might come to fruition but we have some big challenges around urbanisation so we’re thinking big.”

Ms Connolly put it more succinctly, “We’re nurturing an environment to bring forth the craziest ideas.”

Using tequila, jeans and ketchup to make cars could be up there in the crazy stakes but Ford say they’re giving it a go in the name of sustainability.

“We have recycled denim used inside the doors, the scrap from jumpers is our carpeting and we have used recycled drinks bottle to create upholstery,” said Ms Connolly.

“To reduce petroleum based plastic we have taken the husk of agave plant, which makes tequila, to produce insulation for the dashboard. And we combined with Heinz to take tomato skins and make them into plastic for cables.”

Ford are using the waste parts of the agave plant from the Jose Cuervo tequila factory to replace some plastics used in car interiors.

The tomato test was a bit of a damp squib but not so the agave experiment.

“I tell my friends when they drink tequila we’re saving the planet,” said Ms Connolly.

Mr Whickman said he understood people might have doubts about Ford’s commitment to Australia given in October almost 600 people lost their jobs when its factories closed. Holden and Toyota also shut Australian sites.

Ford has closed its factory at Broadmeadows, Melbourne, but says it will be the biggest employer in the Australian automotive sector.

However, Australia is now one of just three global development centres for Ford, Mr Whickman said.

“We ceased production but we have built another part of business which has increased our employees in engineering and design. In Australia, we’ll invest $450 million with engineers and designers working on solutions we'll see right around the world.

“By the end of the year we’ll have 2000 employees — the largest employer by a long stretch in the Australian automotive space,” he said.

“Our input and contribution to Victoria and Australia is strong and enduring.”