The Ford manufacturer's logo. - Pixabay / Jan2575

Ford announced Tuesday that it has decided to postpone the launch of two of its autonomous vehicle projects for a year. The "robotaxi" and the autonomous delivery services that the manufacturer had to set up in 2021 will not finally be available until 2022.

"The difficulties posed by the current trade environment and the need to assess the long-term impact of Covid-19 on customer behavior" explain the choice of the company, said a statement sent to The Rod .

Tests carried out for several years

Ford has been testing its stand-alone models for several years now at its American sites in Miami, Austin and Washington. The manufacturer had not yet announced on which markets it would market its vehicles and the associated services but considered itself ready to launch them. The company intends to take advantage of the additional time now available to it to further improve its projects and study the market in order to implement "any changes (…) in order to meet the new needs of consumers" .

At the time when the automobile giant presents its results for the first quarter of 2020, Ford also wants to be reassuring about the release of the new model of its Bronco and the Mustang Mach-E. The 4x4 and the electric SUV will be available as planned before the end of the year.

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  • Coronavirus
  • Ford
  • Autonomous car
  • Automobile