Ford buys software startup Livio

Ford Motor Company has made its first technology acquisition in thirteen years, with the purchase of startup company Livio, in a bid to accelerate its efforts to help drivers safely access content on their smartphone while on the road. Livio, which is based in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale, Michigan, develops software that enables drivers connect to their smartphones through their car radios or dashboard infotainment systems.
October 4, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
278 Ford Motor Company has made its first technology acquisition in thirteen years, with the purchase of startup company Livio, in a bid to accelerate its efforts to help drivers safely access content on their smartphone while on the road.

Livio, which is based in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale, Michigan, develops software that enables drivers connect to their smartphones through their car radios or dashboard infotainment systems.

Ford paid less than US$10 million for the eleven-person startup, said Paul Mascarenas, Ford's chief technical officer. Though owned by Ford, Livio will continue supplying its current customers, including 948 General Motors.

Mascarenas said Livio complements Ford's efforts to allow drivers to safely access phone apps from their cars. Ford's AppLink system, which lets drivers access their apps through voice recognition, will be inside an estimated 7 million vehicles by 2015, Mascarenas said.

Livio was founded five years ago by Jake Sigal, who said joining Ford will help his company's efforts to promote a single standard for in-vehicle connectivity. Car companies are now using a variety of systems, which makes it harder for app developers to bring apps to market quickly. Ford has also promoted the development of a single standard.

"This helps us accelerate the industry standard, which is desperately needed," Sigal said. "It's a lot easier pushing a standard when you're not just a startup in metro Detroit."
Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • Q&A: Why has Almaviva bought Iteris?
    January 17, 2025
    US-based ITS sector veteran Iteris has been bought for $335m by Italian digital specialist Almaviva. But who exactly is the new owner and what does it want? Adam Hill finds out…
    Read More
  • US automakers commit to making AEB standard on new vehicles
    March 18, 2016
    Twenty US automakers, representing more than 90 per cent of the US auto market have committed to automatic emergency braking (AEB) a standard feature on virtually all new cars no later than 2022. Making the announcement, the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) said that the commitment means that this important safety technology will be available to more consumers more quickly than would be possible
    Read More
  • New thinking needed on the transportation front
    December 10, 2014
    Having spent his working life in transportation, Larry Yermack gives his views on today’s technology challenges. I remember it vividly; it was the late 80s, soon after I started as CFO of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and I was standing mid-span on the deck of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge on a Friday afternoon.
    Read More
  • Making the most of Michigan
    January 9, 2018
    Michigan DoT’s Kirk Steudle takes time out from the ITS World Congress in Montreal to talk to Colin Sowman. Thirty years ago, a professional engineer named Kirk Steudle joined Michigan Department of Transportation (MDoT). Today he’s the state transportation director, responsible for more than 16,000km (10,000 miles) of state highways (including 4,000 bridges), some 2,500 employees and a budget of more than $4 billion. We caught up with Steudle during the ITS World Congress in Montreal and asked how he
    Read More

Highlighted Content