US-based car manufacturer Ford has announced its plans to invest $182.2m in Pivotal, a cloud-based software platform company to further enhance its software development capabilities and deliver innovations to customers more quickly.

This investment will enable Ford’s transition to an auto and a mobility company.

The US car maker has been investing and focusing on designing, manufacturing, marketing, financing and servicing cars, SUVs, trucks and electrified vehicles.

"We are collaborating with iconic companies like Ford to help transform their businesses with our unique software development methodology and modern cloud platform and analytics tools."

Simultaneously, it is pursuing emerging opportunities through Ford Smart Mobility, which is its plan to be a leading player in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience, and data and analytics.

Ford president and CEO Mark Fields said: "Expanding our business to be both an auto and mobility company requires leading-edge software expertise to deliver outstanding customer experiences.

"Our investment in Pivotal will help strengthen our ability to deliver these customer experiences at the speed of Silicon Valley, including continually expanding FordPass, our digital, physical and personal mobility experience platform."

Recently, the car maker teamed up with Pivotal to deliver FordPass, an innovative consumer experience platform that was launched last month.

FordPass will offer new customer services such as remote access to vehicles through a smartphone app, and mobility solutions such as parking and car sharing.

Building on the existing relationship, Ford will also be using Pivotal’s next-generation cloud platform and analytics capabilities in its new mobility projects such as its on-demand Dynamic Shuttle pilot programme.

Ford’s investment in Pivotal is subject to customary regulatory approval.

Pivotal CEO Rob Mee said: "Today we are at a major inflection point in global business, and Pivotal is at the fulcrum of that change.

"We are collaborating with iconic companies like Ford to help transform their businesses with our unique software development methodology and modern cloud platform and analytics tools.

"We are thrilled to create a deeper partnership with Ford through this investment as we drive its evolution to becoming both an auto and mobility company, reinventing yet again how the world moves."

Ford and Pivotal also have plans to open software labs in strategic locations in the US and Europe.