Importance Of Electric Vehicles In Ford Motors' Innovation: A Case Study Essay.

Advancements in Electric Vehicles

Innovation is one of the most crucial factors that may land any business establishment to the doors of heavy profits and execute the daily work with utmost efficiency. Espousing different technologies gives any company the opportunity to transform its operational style and align them towards the best of opportunities for the stakeholders and the company as a whole. Although there are various ways that any company acquires to lay the foundation for proper innovation and technological developments, proper developments towards electric vehicles act as one of the most efficient ways to embrace the changes (Thomas and Maine, 2019). The harmful effluents that have been dispatched as a result of extensive use of the fuels by the vehicles have already created huge environmental and health problems within the society that needs to be tackled efficiently and at the earliest to avoid any further consequences.

Advancements of the technology have allowed scientists and researchers to develop different kinds of electric vehicles which can meet the purpose of transportation and different other movement associated activities that need to be performed either by the individuals or any organization, to be done easily and at less cost and also guarantee property care towards nature and Mother Earth. This research report paper is going to highlight the importance of the development in the form of electric vehicles and which have helped one of the most important companies like Ford Motors to perform its actions efficiently.

Ford motors is one of the most successful organizations dealing in different kinds of automobiles in the United States of America. The country engages itself in different kinds of commercial and automated vehicles and luxury cars (Basl et al., 2019). The surge in globalization depleting atmospheric conditions has compelled the company to shift its technological improvements in a way to build different kinds of automated vehicles so that it can keep up with the good rapport and reputation that it holds with its stakeholders. Ford motors plan to restructure and scale up the underperformed business by modernizing the infrastructure and technologically simplifying the operative strategies and also focusing to reduce cost and improve the quality.

With nearly $11.4 billion investment and creating approximately 11,000 more jobs only to transform the developmental process and upgrade the operative motive to develop different kinds of electric vehicles, Ford motors have already created huge hype within the markets (Jahns and Dai, 2017). Ford has announced different kinds of initiatives and plans so that it can bring within the market different kinds of electric vehicles, and can help different companies within the United States of America and on a global basis to deal with different kinds of environmental and social issues that have already started to create havoc tensions within the communities.

• Ford motors already planned to initiate zero-emission Best electric vehicles at a massive scale by using the most efficient and advanced complex auto production units in the 118-year history of the automobile industry.
• The battery pack that would be provided by Ford within all its electric vehicles is being prepared within the Twin battery plants, which remains to be one of the most impressive plans made by Ford in association with Lincoln EVs.

Advancements in the form of technology are constantly pushing the boundaries associated with the automation of vehicles and increasing innovative connectivity and mobility services. The direction in which the world is going to shows the requirement to adopt electric vehicles as an important technological development which again depends upon different kinds of factors to be kept in mind for its efficient operations. Ford motors have already made a significant number of investments in the field of adopting electric vehicles and have ensured the manufacturers and the automakers avoid any form of disruptions. The suppliers working for Ford motors have already automated their development and research units to properly compete with the future demand and viability of the electric vehicles-based mobility market.

Ford Motors and Electric Vehicles

Figure: Electric Vehicle automation features

(Source: https://www.cargroup.org/Technology-Roadmap-White-Paper.pdf)

In the coming times, the market associated with electric vehicles is going to grow manifold due to heavy proliferation and the existence of big demand in the markets. With the constant surge in the EV market, Ford motors have already updated in implementing 5G technologically equipped vehicles with the high rate of DSRC high latency based-network.

Figure: Growth in Electric Vehicles market

(Source: https://www.cargroup.org/Technology-Roadmap-White-Paper.pdf)

According to forecasts made by different agencies the development in the field of electric vehicles, is going to hit the market and diversify the thought and requirement process of different small companies to meet up their transportation services in the form of Delivery of the manufactured goods to the market or extracting materials from the suppliers by using proper transportation services (Zou et al., 2017). Efficiency, accessibility, convenience, and affordability and four of the most important reasons that compel different business establishments or the consumers who are residing in different big cities to choose this form of transport to meet up their long shot on even at times the last and first mile trips.

Figure: Yearly Prediction

(Source: https://www.cargroup.org/Technology-Roadmap-White-Paper.pdf)

The roadmap that the company has prepared shows that the use of automated vehicles like electric vehicles is going to enhance by nearly 25% by the end of 2030 (Magisetty and Cheekuramelli, 2019). This figure would jump by the end of 2035 to approximately 40% and by the end of 2040, it is expected that approximately every organization of varied countries of the world will mainly depend upon electric vehicles to perform their regular activities.

Different key drivers are responsible for making Ford motors one of the most successful companies throughout the globe and the development in recent times that the company has been planning to initiate in the form of preparing electric vehicles is definitely because of the key drivers (Miyakawa, 2017). Some of the most important drivers that are responsible for making this company a successful brand and are allowing it to develop electric vehicles to cater to the needs of different small and medium scale companies exist in the following forms.

• Great Brand Image - As the vehicles produced by any company fall under the category of high-end products, therefore, they must be accustomed to proper values that any customer spends upon any vehicle and must align its actions according to the inherent nature described. There are different kinds of considerations that are very essential to be kept in mind by the company indulged in manufacturing electric vehicles because those complex requirements if met correctly, can surge the reputation and create positive feelings within the minds of the customers (Bonnette et al.,2020). Thus, the essence of brand image by creating proper trust among its users and making the products offered by the company the obvious choice for any customer remains the main purpose for the creation of a better global image.
• Proper distribution channels - Ford motors rely upon a proper distribution channel to reach out to its target customers. Vice versa the consumers are also dependent upon the opinions provided by any particular dealer during the time of buying any car therefore any company like Ford motors needs to select the right distribution channels which will help them in upgrading their sales technique and easily acquiring quite a huge proportion of the market.
• Managing cash flows - Proper management regarding the cash flows remains one of the most vital factors associated with the successful nature of any organization. Rendering proper financing options to all the customers is another important technique that these key drivers are associated with.

Ford motors have already promised to implement all its upcoming vehicles with CV2X capacity-based networking features. The company has also planned to increase its line-up of vehicles that fall under the category of the F series. In the coming five years the company has promised its consumers to launch in the market brand-new Ford F-150 lightning truck, Mustang match E electric vehicles, and different kinds of E-transit based automobiles (Thomas and Maine, 2019). Making comparisons with different competitors of Ford motors, it can be found that Toyota which is one of the most prominent rivalries of this organization has already stopped production of different DSRC based vehicles and has planned to follow the path of Ford motors and has focussed to develop vehicles with CV2X engines.

• Compliance with international standards - Ford motors is a very big multinational organization that deals with different kinds of customers that are scattered throughout the globe (Kapustin and Grushevenko, 2020). Therefore, it remains pretty essential for any company like Ford to maintain high-quality standards in an international context so that every customer can be attracted and profitability can be enhanced for the company.
• Proper planning of the cost and remaining flexible - This is another important driver that makes a company successful like Ford motors. Proper planning about the expenses to manufacture the electric vehicles is very essential because there is high competition in the market and every company is trying to outperform the other and doing so would allow Ford motors to reduce its expenses and therefore keep a space for the maximum profits. Remaining flexible would allow the company to rethink and reshape its operational procedures according to the market demands and preferences.

Figure: Ford Motors Key drivers

(Source: CAR Research)

Technological upgrades are often found to be getting affected due to different kinds of factors that are very important to be kept in mind (Bailo et al., 2018). Ford motors are going to face some challenges due to meeting different types of regulatory mandates that are essential for implementing automated vehicles within the market and compelling the companies to adopt this kind of vehicle. The establishment has also planned to install three important battery plants in the form of Blue Oval SK (Zhang et al., 2017). These battery plans that would be installed by the company will be capable of producing approximately 129-gigawatt capacity of electric power which could be used by the company in the production of different forms of electric vehicles.

Future of Electric Vehicles

Apart from the above-mentioned technological developments, there are other small to mid-scale advancements that the company has been planning to adopt in the coming years to ease up the process of manufacturing more and more electric vehicles and serve the transportation issues of different companies.

Although in the recent past different organizations have tried to shift and transform their developmental processes in the form of producing automated electric vehicles, by promising to produce fully and highly automated two-wheelers and four-wheelers, due to different possible threats in the form of consumer, infrastructure, and cost factors, such promises remained unfulfilled. Hence any company like Ford motors must analyze the challenges or threats that lie in the path for proper development of electric vehicles.

The above-mentioned three factors can develop a proper framework within the automobile industry as per the results or trends from the expectations and forecasts. There are instances when certainty about the market demand, innovations, technological investments or deployments, can be restricted or even be executed due to different jurisdictions.

Any company when indulged in producing different kinds of electric vehicles remains unsure about its acceptance within society. Therefore, these kinds of challenges can hinder the performance of any company (Alvarez et al., 2020). Recent fatal accidents in the form of battery getting blasted remain examples of poor deployment goals and unsolved issues related to liability and regulatory obligations.

Increased technological costs remain to be one of the most important substantial challenges that any company needs to face during the time of producing electric vehicles. Despite the huge amount of cost related to implementing battery-operated vehicles, it is also essential that the companies ensure safety, security, and focus on sustainability issues during the time of manufacturing.

Conclusion 

The research report prepared here mainly focuses on the business strategy that Ford motors will implement in the coming years so that it can gain the desired competitive advantage and the development that the company is proposing to initiate remains highly successful. As the dynamics associated with the market are constantly shifting at a rapid pace, therefore the key factors discussed in this research paper will play an important role in determining the success of the organization. Different areas are where Ford motors must work so that they can sustain a proper and dominant position within the market especially in the field of electric vehicles. Remaining forecasted and adaptive towards the emerging and changing economies and handling with proper strategies the changes and preferences will helpfully motors to shine in the future.

References

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