Since it launched a few years ago, Ford’s hands-free highway driver-assist feature dubbed BlueCruise has continued to be offered in more and more vehicles, and more and more owners are taking advantage of it, too. As BlueCruise continues to gain steam and launch in countries around the globe, Ford has also provided us with some interesting statistics regarding how people use it as well – most recently, noting that Labor Day is the most popular holiday for BlueCruise users.
Based only on data from customers that opted in to share it with Ford, BlueCruise users took the most hands-free highway driving trips during the Labor Day holiday time period in 2023, followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas among all traditional travel holidays. Interestingly, Labor Day BlueCruise hands-free highway driving trips were also 8.15 percent more common than during Thanksgiving holiday. This is particularly notable as we prepare to celebrate Labor Day in 2024 this coming weekend, when domestic travel is expected to be nine percent higher than last year, according to data from AAA.
“Labor Day weekend is the last hurrah of the summer for many travelers,” said Paula Twidale, Senior VP of AAA Travel. “While some Americans go on cruises or travel internationally over Labor Day, many families prefer regional road trips to beaches, national parks, or tourist attractions.”
Back in June, Ford reveled that users had traveled over 200 million miles with the tech active, and a month later, added that BlueCruise is available in more than 415,000 vehicles on the road in the U.S., which was a significnat 25 percent more than Q1. In addition to its rapid expansion in America, BlueCruise – which is extremely profitable for the automaker – is now legal for use in 17 countries across the globe, in total.
We’ll have more on BlueCruise soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Comments
Of course it’s extremely profitable. They charge you $4000 and never update it. It’s 100% profit. Meanwhile all us 1.0 driver’s careen down the road white knuckled because this thing can’t tell when it’s about to run another car off the road.
So far the only way I can tell on how to get a Ford promised OTA update is to get another car with 1.3. Imagine if Microsoft or Tesla ran their business so poorly. They wouldn’t be around for long.
I wish I had regular cruise control. Blue crap in the mach e is far worse and makes the driving experience unlivable. Look away from the road to adjust radio ding. Rest hand in a force neutral place ding. I HATE it