Added on May 5, 2016  The News Wheel   , ,
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Ford Announces $182.2 Million Investment in Pivotal

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Ford and Pivotal

Ford on Thursday announced that it will invest $182.2 million in San Francisco-based Pivotal, expanding its preexisting relationship with the cloud-based software platform company and further pushing the idea of being both an automotive and a mobility company.

“Expanding our business to be both an auto and mobility company requires leading-edge software expertise to deliver outstanding customer experiences,” said Mark Fields, Ford president and CEO. “Our investment in Pivotal will help strengthen our ability to deliver these customer experiences at the speed of Silicon Valley, including continually expanding FordPass—our digital, physical, and personal mobility experience platform.”

Pivotal and Ford teamed up to create the FordPass customer experience platform that recently launched in the United States. FordPass offers customers access to car sharing services, parking, and loyalty rewards. It launched last month as a free app download and is available to both Ford customers and non-Ford customers.

The $182.2 million investment will allow Ford to further incorporate Pivotal’s software development methodologies and cloud platform into its future plans, which include the Dynamic Shuttle pilot program. It will also result in the opening of new software labs in both the US and Europe that will be staffed with software architects, engineers, and user experience experts.

Marcy Klevorn, Ford vice president and CIO, will join the board of directors at Pivotal as a condition of the investment.

“Investing in Pivotal builds on our current strengths in software development,” said Klevorn. “We plan to quickly add new state-of-the-art software engineering capabilities across the Ford enterprise.”