Back in August 2022, Ford CEO Jim Farley stated that the automaker’s ICE lineup was “too complex,” which is both confusing to customers and a financial drain on the company itself. Last April, Jim Baumbick – Ford’s vice president, product development operations and quality – added that the automaker planned to begin simplifying its lineup starting with the 2024 model year, and thus far, that’s exactly what it has done with the refreshed 2024 Ford F-150, not to mention the refreshed 2025 Ford Explorer and its counterpart, the 2025 Lincoln Aviator. Now, the automaker is set to potentially remove a specific function of its Ford Active Park Assist feature as its latest cost-cutting measure, according to Automotive News.
That feature is automated parallel parking, which is part of Ford Active Park Assist that takes over the steering, shifting, braking, and acceleration of a vehicle to navigate parallel or perpendicular parking spaces. The system also includes Park Out Assist, which provides assistance when exiting a parallel parking spot. However, Ford COO Kumar Galhotra noted on the automaker’s Q4 2024 earnings call with investors that this is one of a few seldomly-used features that the automaker plans to remove as it aims to trim another $2 billion in costs from its bottom line.
“Connected vehicle data here is very important because it helps us see what we’re providing, whether the customers are using it or not,” Galhotra said. “So one example is an auto-park feature that lets the customer parallel park automatically. Very, very few people are using it so we can remove that feature. It’s about $60 per vehicle.”
It’s unclear if Ford intends to do away with Active Park Assist altogether or simply remove the parallel parking functionality component of it, but according to Galhotra, such a move could save the automaker a whopping $10 million annually.
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Comments
My 2018 F150 Platinum had active park assist and I never used it. I can parallel park already, so why use it, and I agree to remove it makes sense.
So I take it that they’ll lower the price to the consumer by $60 right? 🤣
That is a moronic decision!
Never have used it. Dealer should demonstrate it. It scares me
It’s an accessory. We pay for it. Not Ford. Are these the same accountants that lose Ford 50k on each EV?
Typical. Add a feature. Raise prices and pass the cost onto the consumer. Then remove the feature without reducing prices and keep the money.
And what about those that use it and expect the feature to continue to exist on their next Ford purchase?