(Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. intends to start sellingdriverless cars to the public by about 2025, its chief executiveofficer said.

The goal is to lower costs enough to make autonomous vehiclesaffordable to millions of people, CEO Mark Fields said in a speech Monday atcompany headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. After startingwith sales of robot taxis to ride-hailing services by 2021, “aroundmid-decade we’ll make vehicles available for people to purchase forthemselves,” he said.

“We’re dedicated to putting autonomous vehicles on the road formillions of people, not just those who can afford luxury cars,”Fields said.

The CEO is attempting to chart a new path for the 113-year-oldautomaker as the industry is roiled by changes from the emergenceof the sharing economy and advent of the age of the autonomous car.Over the last month, Fields has revealed plans to roll out robottaxis — with no steering wheel, gas or brake pedals — andto expand into the mobility business by providing bikes and shuttleservices in big cities. He has said he is transforming Ford into anautomotive and a mobility company to succeed in this new era.

Automation era

“We believe this next decade is really going to be defined by theautomation of the automobile,” Fields told reporters after hisspeech, adding that he’ll offer a more detailed forecast of theautonomous future at Ford’s investor meeting Wednesday.

The robot cars eventually offered to consumers will becompletely reworked in ways that will let their occupants enjoyentertainment or conduct business, he told reporters.

“Think about all the things you can do when you don’t have to befocused on driving,” Fields said. “You can design lots of things,using the interior for a lot of different use cases.”

Investors have not reacted favorably to the company’s push fordriverless cars and mobility services, and seem more focused on theprofit warnings Ford has issued. Ford lowered its 2016 pretaxprofit forecast last week to $10.2 billion from at least $10.8billion because of the cost of an expanded recall of faulty doorlatches. That came after the automaker said in July its profitoutlook was “ at risk” due to rising costs and slowing sales as theU.S. auto market plateaus.

Ford rose 2.6 percent to close at $12.70 in New York, as thebroader market rallied. The shares have declined 9.9 percent thisyear.

Plenty of competition

Others are putting driverless cars on the road ahead of Ford.Singapore last month unveiled the first autonomous taxi service,run by NuTonomy, a small startup. Uber Technologies Inc., foundedin 2009, will soon let users of its popular ride-sharing app hailautonomous Volvo sport utility vehicles in Pittsburgh. AlphabetInc.’s Google self-driving car project also has indicated it willmove from testing to commercialization by the end of thedecade.

Fields said Ford will still benefit from being one of the firstto field fully driverless cars and cautioned against comparing itseffort to others.

“We’ve been at this, guys, for over 10 years now, don’t confuseactivity with progress,” he said of his competitors. “Being in theforefront is important. We may not be first, but when we do comeout with it, we want to make sure that it’s accessible tomillions.”

Related: Ford plan long-range electric car to compete withTesla, GM

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