由于汽車銷量和司機(jī)駕駛證注冊(cè)量的下滑,，汽車業(yè)的未來(lái)似乎有些黯淡,。所以，福特（Ford）正在擴(kuò)大業(yè)務(wù)范圍,，據(jù)CNBC報(bào)道,，他們計(jì)劃在2021年推出自動(dòng)駕駛拼車服務(wù),。在這個(gè)方向上,，他們將最終與Uber、Lyft和通用汽車（General Motors）等公司展開競(jìng)爭(zhēng),。

福特已經(jīng)在邁阿密對(duì)一輛自動(dòng)駕駛型的福特Fusion進(jìn)行了九個(gè)月的測(cè)試,。福特自動(dòng)駕駛汽車公司（Ford Autonomous Vehicles）的首席執(zhí)行官謝里夫·馬拉科比在接受CNBC采訪時(shí)表示，這款汽車很貴,，但是“個(gè)人或公司的每英里運(yùn)輸費(fèi)用將會(huì)降低,，對(duì)我們而言是有利可圖的”。

押寶未來(lái)的汽車銷售,，要冒很大的風(fēng)險(xiǎn),。圣路易斯聯(lián)邦儲(chǔ)備銀行（Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis）發(fā)布的政府?dāng)?shù)據(jù)顯示，從2016年起,，汽車銷售總量已經(jīng)開始出現(xiàn)負(fù)增長(zhǎng),。密歇根大學(xué)（University of Michigan）交通運(yùn)輸研究所（Transportation Research Institute）的一項(xiàng)研究也發(fā)現(xiàn)，16歲至44歲的人群中持有駕照者的比例已經(jīng)連續(xù)數(shù)十年出現(xiàn)下降，這導(dǎo)致潛在市場(chǎng)在不斷縮小,。

其他公司也把目標(biāo)投向了自動(dòng)駕駛拼車服務(wù),。據(jù)網(wǎng)站The Verge報(bào)道，通用汽車在自動(dòng)駕駛汽車的生產(chǎn)上投入了1億美元,。彭博社（Bloomberg）還報(bào)道稱,，該公司計(jì)劃在2019年推出自己的相關(guān)服務(wù)。

Lyft和Uber也在認(rèn)真對(duì)待這項(xiàng)技術(shù),。后者曾在匹茲堡測(cè)試自動(dòng)駕駛的uberX汽車,，不過(guò)該款汽車隨后在亞利桑那州的坦佩撞倒了一位女士，造成了全球第一起自動(dòng)駕駛汽車致人死亡的案件,。

這就是難點(diǎn)所在,。美聯(lián)社報(bào)道稱，AAA的測(cè)試顯示目前的自動(dòng)駕駛系統(tǒng)有時(shí)會(huì)失靈,。之前Insurance for Highway Safety的測(cè)試也得出了類似的結(jié)論,。

自動(dòng)駕駛技術(shù)在不斷進(jìn)步，不過(guò)它進(jìn)步的速度還需更快一點(diǎn),，才能讓汽車廠商遠(yuǎn)離財(cái)務(wù)紅線,。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：嚴(yán)匡正

The automobile industry’s future looks a bit rough thanks to a decline in auto sales and sign-ups for driver’s licenses. So, Ford is expanding its horizons with plans to launch a self-driving ride-share service in 2021, CNBC reports. It’s a direction that will ultimately clash with the likes of Uber, Lyft, and General Motors (GM), among others.

The company has been testing a self-driving Ford Fusion in Miami for nine months. The cars are expensive but “the cost per mile for transportation for a person or a business is going to be lower and will be profitable for us,” Sherif Marakby, CEO of Ford Autonomous Vehicles, told CNBC.

Counting on future car sales is risky. Total unit year-over-year sales growth has been turning negative since 2016, according to government data via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. And a University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute study found a continuous multi-decade decrease in the percentage of driver’s licenses held by 16- through 44-year-olds, reducing the potential market.

Others are also aiming for self-driving ride-share services. GM is putting $100 million into self-driving car production, The Verge reported, and the company has plans for its own service in 2019, according to Bloomberg.

Lyft and Uber also are serious about the technology. The latter was piloting self-driving uberX cars in Pittsburgh, but then it had the world’s first self-driving fatality when a car ran into a woman in Tempe, Ariz.

And that’s the rub. Tests by AAA show the current systems don’t always work, as the Associated Press reported. Earlier Insurance for Highway Safety tests had similar results.

The tech is improving, but must get better fast enough for auto makers to steer clear of the financial red line.