Post by TonyV on Jan 8, 2010 13:44:20 GMT -5
Last Updated: January 07. 2010 7:37AM
Daniel Howes
Ford steals show at Vegas electronics summit
At a time when the most tired of tired Detroit mantras -- "they don't build what anyone wants to buy" -- is akin to holy writ, when magazine covers herald the "Extinction of the car giants," when books are titled "The End of Detroit," Ford Motor Co. is proving once again just how wrong conventional wisdom can be.
For the hottest thing at this week's Consumer Electronics Show is the Blue Oval's "MyFord Touch" and its latest version of Sync. The package combines the infotainment system with simplified computer touch screens that allow drivers to manage everything from climate control and iPod selections to hearing text messages and the latest headlines.
Cool? You have no idea. Easy? Easier than it's ever been. MyTouch will be standard equipment on selected models for the 2011 model year and will roll out in successive years -- which suggests just how aggressively Ford is pressing an advantage it staked with the first Sync systems it unveiled before the global auto market imploded.
Car buyers are paying attention. According to Ford, 70 percent of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury buyers opted for Sync; vehicles equipped with Sync sell twice as fast as those without it; 32 percent of Ford's customers said Sync was "critical" to their decision; and 77 percent of Ford customers said they would recommend Sync to others.
Numbers like those are the makings of a winner in just about any industry. For one of Detroit's three automakers, albeit the one with the strongest market presence right about now, that and rising market share are compelling evidence that reports of its death have been exaggerated.
What does it say about Ford that CEO Alan Mulally, for the second year running, is the keynote speaker today at the Las Vegas electronics show, the cathedral for cool tech that's about as far as you can get in mind from the stereotype of Old Clueless Detroit?
"To be invited to be the keynote with all these consumer electronics wizards," Mulally told The Detroit News this week, "is the all-time testimony that Ford is relevant."
That and more. What MyFord Touch promises to do -- essentially, replace a one-way relationship between man and machine that has existed since the days of the Model T -- may be less important than what it represents for Ford and, to some extent, Detroit's auto industry.
Barring some kind of software meltdown, Sync and MyFord Touch could be the killer app underscoring evidence that Ford's turnaround is real. Ford's black ink in every part of the world -- including the bellwether United States -- is being driven by well-executed cars and trucks offering innovative, easy-to-use technologies developed by an industrial icon.
A few years ago, you'd be hard-pressed to write that statement, much less have any credible evidence to back it up. But the numbers -- and the trends -- don't lie:
Profitability is returning to Ford, particularly in North America. Market share is inching higher. Sales in December surged 32.8 percent -- more than rival Toyota. Shares in Ford are trading near 52-week highs. Quality and perception of Ford products are improving, according to Consumer Reports, second only to Toyota. The cadence of new vehicles shows no sign of slowing this year.
Next week, at the North American International Auto Show, Ford is expected to show an all-new Focus compact and a thoroughly revised Lincoln MKX crossover, set to reach dealerships with its Ford Edge sibling by midyear. Also coming this year is the Fiesta subcompact, perhaps just in time for rising gas prices goosed by a recovering economy.
Bottom line: Leadership, vision and execution can reverse even the most dreadful declines, given time and money. Yeah, the hottest thing this week in the world of high tech isn't from Apple in Silicon Valley or Microsoft in Seattle.
It's from Dearborn, courtesy of an Old Economy company founded in 1903. How cool is that?
dchowes@detnews.com (313) 222-2106 Daniel Howes' column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
Daniel Howes
Ford steals show at Vegas electronics summit
At a time when the most tired of tired Detroit mantras -- "they don't build what anyone wants to buy" -- is akin to holy writ, when magazine covers herald the "Extinction of the car giants," when books are titled "The End of Detroit," Ford Motor Co. is proving once again just how wrong conventional wisdom can be.
For the hottest thing at this week's Consumer Electronics Show is the Blue Oval's "MyFord Touch" and its latest version of Sync. The package combines the infotainment system with simplified computer touch screens that allow drivers to manage everything from climate control and iPod selections to hearing text messages and the latest headlines.
Cool? You have no idea. Easy? Easier than it's ever been. MyTouch will be standard equipment on selected models for the 2011 model year and will roll out in successive years -- which suggests just how aggressively Ford is pressing an advantage it staked with the first Sync systems it unveiled before the global auto market imploded.
Car buyers are paying attention. According to Ford, 70 percent of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury buyers opted for Sync; vehicles equipped with Sync sell twice as fast as those without it; 32 percent of Ford's customers said Sync was "critical" to their decision; and 77 percent of Ford customers said they would recommend Sync to others.
Numbers like those are the makings of a winner in just about any industry. For one of Detroit's three automakers, albeit the one with the strongest market presence right about now, that and rising market share are compelling evidence that reports of its death have been exaggerated.
What does it say about Ford that CEO Alan Mulally, for the second year running, is the keynote speaker today at the Las Vegas electronics show, the cathedral for cool tech that's about as far as you can get in mind from the stereotype of Old Clueless Detroit?
"To be invited to be the keynote with all these consumer electronics wizards," Mulally told The Detroit News this week, "is the all-time testimony that Ford is relevant."
That and more. What MyFord Touch promises to do -- essentially, replace a one-way relationship between man and machine that has existed since the days of the Model T -- may be less important than what it represents for Ford and, to some extent, Detroit's auto industry.
Barring some kind of software meltdown, Sync and MyFord Touch could be the killer app underscoring evidence that Ford's turnaround is real. Ford's black ink in every part of the world -- including the bellwether United States -- is being driven by well-executed cars and trucks offering innovative, easy-to-use technologies developed by an industrial icon.
A few years ago, you'd be hard-pressed to write that statement, much less have any credible evidence to back it up. But the numbers -- and the trends -- don't lie:
Profitability is returning to Ford, particularly in North America. Market share is inching higher. Sales in December surged 32.8 percent -- more than rival Toyota. Shares in Ford are trading near 52-week highs. Quality and perception of Ford products are improving, according to Consumer Reports, second only to Toyota. The cadence of new vehicles shows no sign of slowing this year.
Next week, at the North American International Auto Show, Ford is expected to show an all-new Focus compact and a thoroughly revised Lincoln MKX crossover, set to reach dealerships with its Ford Edge sibling by midyear. Also coming this year is the Fiesta subcompact, perhaps just in time for rising gas prices goosed by a recovering economy.
Bottom line: Leadership, vision and execution can reverse even the most dreadful declines, given time and money. Yeah, the hottest thing this week in the world of high tech isn't from Apple in Silicon Valley or Microsoft in Seattle.
It's from Dearborn, courtesy of an Old Economy company founded in 1903. How cool is that?
dchowes@detnews.com (313) 222-2106 Daniel Howes' column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays