DEARBORN – Ford’s big venture into autonomous vehicles cost it a whopping $2.7 billion write-off. GM isn’t showing any signs of slowing its pursuits.

Over the past few years, unmistakable buzz has surrounded autonomous vehicle technology as start-ups and major manufacturers are both battling to be king of a new frontier.

However, with Ford Motor Company’s shift away from trying to develop fully autonomous driving technology via Argo AI — and the accompanying $2.7 billion impairment — investors might be wondering if driving toward fully autonomous vehicles is a mistake and whether General Motors will soon be admitting what Ford did.

Argo AI was a self-driving vehicle technology start-up with Ford and Volkswagen Group as the main backers. Long story short, it was unable to attract new investors and announced in the fall that it would shut down operations.

That decision cost Ford a whopping $2.7 billion in a noncash, pre-tax impairment on its large investment in Argo, and largely led to the automaker’s $827 million net loss during the third quarter.

Perhaps more telling for Ford investors, and more concerning for broader automotive investors, was the company’s admission that bringing Level 4 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to the market profitably isn’t close to feasible right now.

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