Al Root
Ford Motor stock is lower in midday trading Monday after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration disclosed an investigation of Ford's Blue Cruise driver assistance technology.
Shares of the auto maker are off 0.6%, at $12.73 a share, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are up 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively.
The NHTSA notice says its Office of Defects Investigation received notice of "two incidents involving Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles that collided with stationary vehicles, which were located within the travel lanes of controlled-access highways." Both collisions occurred at night and both resulted in at least one fatality.
A Ford representative said "We are working with NHTSA to support its investigation."
Fatailies are always serious, but investigations like the one just started are common and can result in recalls to improve overall safety. Recalls are a relatively common occurrence. Over the past 12 months through early April, some 30 million vehicles in the U.S. were recalled. That's roughly one-eighth of all vehicles on U.S. roads.
Tesla recalled more than two million vehicles in December after NHTSA completed an investigation into its driver assistance features. The cars remained on the road and didn't need to go into the shop. Tesla fixed the vehicles with an over-the-air software update that added warnings to ensure drivers don't misuse the system.
NHTSA is investigating Tesla's fix to ensure it was adequate.
Tesla's, and Ford's, driver assistance technology are so-called level 2 systems, which means drivers need to pay attention 100% of the time. With a level 3 system drivers are allowed to stop paying attention in some narrowly defined setting -- such as a slow-moving traffic jam. Level 4 systems do most of the driving most of the time, without human intervention. Level 5 systems do all of the driving all of the time.
There aren't any level 5 systems yet. There are some level 4 robotaxis operating in a small number of states. Mercedes-Benz launched a level 3 system in the U.S. in September. The Mercedes system, called Drive Pilot, will do some driving without human intervention in traffic jams.
NHTSA believes level 2 systems make cars safer. Still, there is the potential for misuse and malfunction. It requires all auto makers to report any incidents involving level 2 systems as it continuously evaluates the technology. Tesla reports the most incidents mainly because it's the only auto maker with all its cars continuously connected to the internet.
Over the past 12 months, NHTSA has recorded about 1,400 incidents involving level 2 systems. Tesla reported 1,143. Ford reported 16.
Tesla stock was up more than 15% in midday trading at almost $195 a shares. Driver assistance technology was the reason for its rise.
CEO Elon Musk visited China over the weekend and received approval to sell its highest-level driver assistance product called Full Self-Driving in China. Better driver assistance software helps sell cars and drives incremental revenue. Tesla charges Chinese buyers about $9,000 for its highest-level driver assistance product.
Investigations make investors nervous, but investors should expect to hear more about driver assistance systems doing more on roads and NHTSA looking more closely at all of the technology.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 29, 2024 14:01 ET (18:01 GMT)
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