FUTURE SAVVY

Ford shaped the previous century in no small measure and could yet shape this one too

Few brands have burnt their way into my synapses quite the way this four-letter word has: Ford. Its very mention evokes an intimacy that I have been trying to fathom since the moment I jumped to grab a preview of Ford’s take on the future of ‘auto’ in automobility on a visit to the company’s design centre in Melbourne. Some of it is personal: of all the stuff of dubious utility that may be pinned on my father, the clearest proof in existence is of his having gone forth to spawn the so-called ‘Shirali-Ford Theorem’ of algebra. What fascinates me, however, is Ford as a car company: and its challenge of living up to its own name.

Its founder Henry Ford, after all, gave us a definition of business leadership that remains hard to surpass. Mould your market, he said, don’t get moulded by it. Asking people what they wanted, he joked, would’ve had him trying to make a better horse. And, with the benefit of hindsight, it was not the motor-car’s invention that pushed clipclop-carriages off the streets of America, it was its mass affordability. Which, in turn, was enabled by the costs saved cranking out lots and lots of Model-Ts along an assembly line, a production shift that came to define the 20th century in more ways than one. It not only gave us the modern industrial age, its adoption for arms gave America a distinct advantage in World War II, and its eventual effects could call for another Chou-En-Lai-ism: it’s too early to say.

Might Ford’s future be as dramatic as its past? To awe yourself with its design technology, all it takes is five minutes in the hot seat of its virtual reality lab in Melbourne—all goggled up and finger- strapped, it feels so real, you’d itch to shift into gear and vroom your way into a world of make-believe. This is how new models are designed and perfected these days: with bits and bytes of simulation. But the real drama could lie in what Ford envisions for the real world as it urges us to ‘Go Further’ (as its slogan has it).

For one thing, it is clearly not in the business of better horses. “Ah, now that’s where smart technology comes in,” says Steve Crosby, chief engineer, body, Ford Asia Pacific, referring to the company’s yen for thinking ahead of blind curves. For another, while Ford sees sense in adapting to local markets, CEO Mark Fields is going full-throttle with its ‘One Ford’ strategy—a global cohesion plan drafted by his predecessor Alan Mulally—that has already seen it leave a loss of $12.6 billion in the dust of 2006, avert a federal bailout in 2009, and post profits of $7.2 billion in 2013. Affordability is Ford’s mantra, and Fields wants to reach out to millions with hi- tech wizardry on wheels available so far only to a few. “Our vision is not only to create the smartest, safest driving experience,” says Jim Holland, engineering director, Ford Asia Pacific, “but also to make those innovations available to all.”

How Ford goes about it could pit it against rivals old and new, perhaps even infotech players, in a market battle to reshape the very idea of automobility as a self-driven affair.

Back in India, the only hint of what’s awheel at Ford came last July in the form of its EcoSport, a hardy compact vehicle that has sold some 60,000 units in its first year on Indian streets and still has buyers marvelling at its sporty look, robust drive and you-must-be-kidding fuel efficiency. Its clever little secret lies under the hood: Ford’s spiffy EcoBoost engine that uses cylinders just two-thirds the size to crank out the same power. It looks like just another chunk of metal, but, at the risk of a run-in with Aussie law (having signed a non-disclosure deed before being shown a naked sample), here’s what it does: its software optimises its mix of air and fuel in a way that lets the piston’s con-shaft pump furiously away in a lot less space. Vive la différence!

In all, the EcoSport looks and feels a lot bigger than it is, and if bang-for-the-buck is what the Indian car market is all about, then this one’s bang on. But its success is not just a story of extra pep for less petrol. Speak to anyone who’s taken it for a hill excursion, and you’ll hear of the wonders of its brakes, which go into action on their own if you risk a rollback in stop- and-go traffic on a steep incline.

The idea is to assist the driver only as much as he or she wants, clarifies Alexander Kaps, supervisor, driver assistance technologies & active safety, Ford Asia Pacific, reassuring me that these gee- whiz safety aids are just aids rather than attempts to turn cars ‘idiot-proof’ (my indignant phrase). Out in front of Ford’s Design Centre on a chilly Melbourne morn, among the trial vehicles on offer is a hulk on wheels that goes ‘yes master’ at your command. Well, not quite, but this 4WD will soon be able to respond to your voice like a robot. Its web-linked Sync software will find you a McDonald’s outlet, guide you to a tricky address, or play you a remix of Roadhouse Blues, among other things you ask for. My purpose right now is bulk management, and at the press of a button, it locates a parking slot, tells me of its triumph, and then guides itself neatly into what by Aussie standards is a tight spot, its steering wheel turning left and right spookily on its own under my nose.

Even more unnerving—okay, reassuring— is the ghost at the pedal of a Ford Kuga that slams itself to a halt if its sensor spots an object you’re about to crash into. Testing this ‘Active City Stop’ feature against a wall of cushion blocks is not easy. At first, my foot reflexes just couldn’t keep off the damn brakes. But then, letting go is a liberation of another kind. It takes a little getting used to, that’s all. If you can be ghost-assisted without even asking for it, why not?

And why stop there? Why keep your eyes on the road and hand upon the wheel at all? Just sit back and let the omnipotence of technology take charge. Google knows, it’s what the world needs.

With urban airwaves suffused with data and computers talking in terabytes, a car can now be transformed into a passenger pod to be wheeled around streets by satellites and sensors without anyone at the wheel. This way, you get to issue orders while a global network does all the grunt work to get you there—safely. Human error and fatal smash-ups, they say, may soon be history.

So far, so geeky. But, wait, what about market forces? Left to themselves, will they push for such a car? “Customer demand is definitely there,” replies Adam Smith, manager, vehicle energy management engineering, Ford Asia Pacific, “and so is the technology.” Not all cars are driven for pleasure, he says, explaining his point about demand. Moreover, he adds, talking about supply, the modern steering wheel is already just a joystick of sorts, a sensor of the driver’s intent for the car’s software to pick up and act upon.

We’re at Ford’s You Yangs Proving Ground, and, aware of my urge to burn some rubber doing ‘hot laps’ at the wheel of an EcoBoosted Ford Focus, Smith seems to detect my dismay: market forces, alas, are unlikely to resist the driverless car.

“So, will it replace a driver’s car? No,” he says, “But a regular car, yes, possibly.”

What limits the idea, he goes on, is something else. It would imply a radical shift in road responsibility—from individuals to corporations—and there may be hell to pay if anything goes wrong. “It’ll need an aerospace level of safety testing,” he says, “and if it’s going to be as expensive as that…”

Smith seems to shrug. Demand and supply recede to make way for questions of moral sentiments. With hackers running riot on the web, how safe is it to be ghost driven? Do its day-to-day benefits outweigh the Black Swan risk of a system failure?

We pile into a Ford Ranger for a tour of the endurance track of the You Yangs ground, a vast patch of wilderness some 50 km west of Melbourne. It feels like a wildlife safari. Squeals erupt around me each time a kangaroo is spotted in close range, making my right foot twitch. If an infant were to tumble out of a pouch (or jhuggi), would you trust your friendly underhood ghost to slam those brakes?

It’s cold and windy by the time we reach the speed track for our hot laps, with palms being rubbed together more in anticipation than for warmth. It reminds me of Bill Gates’ 1999 book Business @ the Speed of Thought, the one in which he goes off on a tangent talking about the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States. While the Soviets were first off the block, taking breaths away by launching canines and humans into orbit, American astronauts preferred to wait—insisting on a spacecraft with actual navigation controls of its own. It’s this sense of individualism, Gates argues, that eventually saw them whizz past the Soviets.

Ford’s Sync interface, it turns out, has been developed in sync with Microsoft. It makes me clench a calf to step on the gas. It’s me, and just me, at the wheel. No sign of a ghost. And that’s the idea of an automobile, isn’t it? Autonomy.

EcoSportFordJim Holland