Mubasher: Ford Motor Company will offer hands-free driving on several models by autumn 2021, Reuters reported on Thursday.

The system, called Active Drive Assist, will be notably offered on Ford's new Mustang Mach-E, an all-electric crossover vehicle that will be on sale later this year.

US buyers can order the Mustang Mach-E this autumn with the Active Driver Assist hardware package, which includes extra radar sensors and a driver-facing camera. However, the software will not be ready until autumn 2021, Ford said.

The offering comes six years after Tesla and four years after General Motors Co (GM) introduced similar systems.

In 2015, Tesla introduced Autopilot, its first semi-automated hands-free driver-assist package, followed by GM two years later with a similar semi-automated feature, Reuters notes.

When ready, Ford’s Active Drive Assist software can be installed through a wireless over-the-air update. Tesla has offered over-the-air updates since 2012.