Tempe Body Shop Salutes Massive Ford Investment In Driver Assist Tech

Your favorite Tempe Body Shop is all about any measure that shapes safer cars and trucks that make drivers more cautiously aware behind the wheel. Sure, they might lead to fewer accidents and fewer occupied bays around our neck of Arizona, but that’s a price we’re willing to pay for safer roads for our family and friends. That’s why we’re proud to tip our caps to Ford President and CEO Mark Fields’ announcement that the iconic American automaker will expedite its roll-out of semi-automated driver assist systems by tripling its current investment in the technology.

“As we look to the future, it is clear we are on the cusp of a revolution in mobility, from car sharing to autonomous driving to the customer experience…”

Fields announced the massively multiplied engineering investment in the “Ford Smart Mobility” campaign at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as a tentpole in Ford’s transition from automotive leaders to global trailblazers in autonomous vehicles with innovative connectivity, data and analytics designed for a safer and richer driving experience.

The tripled investment in driver assist technology in particular stands to aid Ford in designing automobiles that drive and park more intuitively in heavy traffic. Further ahead, safety-minded features such as Traffic Jam Assist’s steering, braking and acceleration guidance in heavily congested traffic stand to become foundations of Ford’s eventual progression toward fully autonomous vehicles.

Ford has already set a benchmark as the world’s first automaker to test a fully autonomous vehicle in snowy winter weather conditions.

“As we look to the future, it is clear we are on the cusp of a revolution in mobility, from car sharing to autonomous driving to the customer experience,” Fields said in Barcelona. “Technology and innovation provide us with the opportunity to address these trends and to make people’s lives better by changing the way the world moves.”

Fields also announced his company’s intention to triple its autonomous vehicle development fleet in the not-too-distant future.

Our Tempe body shop is already a major supporter of Ford’s Pre-Collision Assist with Pedestrian Detection, which employs radar to detect people and vehicles obstructing the driver’s path ahead, and the Intelligent Speed Limiter. The push-of-a-button Fully Active Park Assist is another option that promotes safer driving through semi-autonomous controls, easing vehicles into a targeted parking spot by commandeering the transmission, steering, throttle and brake until coming to a complete stop.