Ford Motor Co has bought a five-year-old software company for less than $10 million in a move the No. 2 U.S. automaker hopes will beef up its in-car connectivity that is critical to winning over younger, more affluent buyers.
The acquisition of Ferndale, Michigan-based Livio will also help promote the automaker's method of connecting smartphones with the vehicle as an industry standard, which will help speed the pace of app development, Ford said on Thursday.
"With the acquisition, Livio now has the ability to advocate Ford's contribution of SmartDevice Link as a standard," Paul Mascarenas, Ford's chief technology officer, told reporters. "That, I think, is a big opportunity."
Source
Reuters