Ford Motor Co. on Thursday said it would invest $182.2 million in Pivotal Software Inc., a closely held software-development tools and services company, another sign of the automotive industry’s drive to beef up its software skills.

The Pivotal relationship gives the car maker access to “really advanced software development methods and cloud tech skills at a speed at which we wouldn’t be able to do on our own,” said Ford Chief Executive Mark Fields. Cloud tech refers to the use of a network of remote servers that run applications and store data.

“As we look at tech and software and how it is opening whole new areas for us to provide experiences for consumers, it is important that we get a level of fluency” in software, he added.

The investment in San Francisco-based Pivotal is part of a $253 million round that includes an initial contribution from Microsoft Corp. and vaults Pivotal’s valuation to $2.8 billion. Ford was a Pivotal customer, and Ford Chief Information Officer Marcy Klevorn will join Pivotal’s board.

In March, Pivotal disclosed a partnership with Volkswagen AG , Europe’s largest auto maker by sales. That relationship involves joint development of software and mobility solutions at Volkswagen’s Berlin-based Digital Lab.