Why Ford decided to merge its next-gen architecture with its current platform
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Summary
Ford Motor Company software chief, Doug Field, has spoken about the reasons the car manufacturer is sticking with a ‘domain’ style system for its vehicles rather than going with the increasingly popular ‘zonal’ approach.
Instead of building a new platform that has a more limited scope, Fields said the company has taken a more incremental approach to its software rollout, but one that will offer a broader range of its vehicles the latest infotainment services and its BlueCruise driver assist system.
He said Ford had looked into the zonal architecture style, which can mean fewer electronic components and thus reduced production costs, but said it was a more elegant solution for a full range of vehicles.
Fields also said the industry needed to move away from the idea that software needed to be contained within specific hardware, and for software to be “soft”.