Ford Finishes First (For Once)

[Brad Kenney]

A new report (http://www.abiresearch.com/abiprdisplay.jsp?pressid=865) by ABI Research predicts a coming automotive trend, and for once, an American manufacturer -- in this case, Ford -- is leading the pack.

With its SYNC product, Ford has partnered with Microsoft to bring a 21st century driver experience to the masses (you can view the appropriately flash-y Web site at syncmyride.com (http://www.syncmyride.com/).)

ABI Research director Mike Ippoliti's take on the new tech:

"The Ford SYNC represents a major shift in OEMs' approach to the consumer electronics community. While some makes have merely supported certain media or devices, Ford’s SYNC is intended to be a selling point, using voice recognition as a technology edge, and breaking the mold of premium-only availability."

Ippoliti believes other OEMs, especially in North America, will follow suit, and comments that North American shipments of portable media player integration kits will grow very quickly in the short term, due to mass-model commitments from Ford and GM.

The ABI Research study indicates that iPod integration kit shipments alone will more than double between 2008 and 2010. Global shipments should surpass 11 million vehicles annually by 2011, delivering a market value of over $314 million.

According to Ippoliti the SYNC is just one of four technological approaches for in-car infotainment:


Store content locally, meaning in-car hard disk drives or other memory devices;
Stream content into the vehicle, meaning broadcasting by satellite, RDS-TMC, and other techniques;
Pull content into the vehicle, meaning the acquisition of data as needed from the internet or other off-board storage/delivery services; or
Interface with a portable device –- including Bluetooth and USB connection

Hmmm...an American automaker, ahead of the game with cool new technology? Hey, I could get used to this...

[Abogle]

This is good news for the struggling brand. People often forget that Ford has historically been an innovative company. Many of their newer products did well in the latest quality surveys beating out even some Japanese models. All through the nineties Ford had either the number 1 or number 2 selling product in nearly every class of vehicles - Taurus, Ranger, F series, Explorer, Escort, Crown Vic and came very close to challenging GM for the number one spot. Not sure why they got so complacent in recent years?

[Allroads]

Call me a cynic, but is the ability to plug your ipod into a stereo system a sustainable competitive advantage? Is voice activated something that people will pay extra to or move from another product to?

Maybe it is time to focus on creating cars that use less gas, and cost less.... cause that is what foreign manufacturers are doing.

[dileskdo]

What a bunch of Hog Wash! How unrealistic and utterly useless technology. GM has already pioneered "OnStar" that has some real value but I don't here the press crowing about that? American auto companies need to focus on design, quality and price and forget the gimmicks. As for Ford ever getting close to GM in sales in the 90's; every one has forgot about the late 60's through the early 80's when GM's "Olds Cutlass" sold over 1 million units alone, year after year during that era. The 90's through now only have only produced model sales numbers in the 200,000 range so there has been a significant change in buyer patterns i.e.; foreign competition.

[michel]

Perhaps they're making their way in automatic software updates. You know how your computer updates itself every week or two, perhaps for small computer glitches in the software on board these fords they will soon be able to update themselves. I can't imagine their breaking technology is plugging an ipod into the stereo is their competition beating tech.

[Brad Kenney]

To clarify the product itself, here's a quick paraphrase of the press releases:

Sync is a joint project between Ford and Microsoft that uses Bluetooth and USB to sync portable devices such as music players, cellphones and PDAs. It uses both wheel-mounted controls (dials/buttons etc.) and voice recognition technology to navigate between and control devices. The system also uses speech-to-text tech to read text messages, emails, song titles etc.

Why does it matter?

Because there is a whole generation of buyers who can't yet afford a luxury car (but want the trappings of one) and for who there is no such thing as tech-for-tech's sake -- the lives of Gen Y are defined as much by their gadgetry as anything else, and so anything that allows the integration into their driving experience is likely to make them give Ford models with Sync tech a hard look. I think it's a great move for that reason alone.

Now if Ford could have partnered with Apple, they'd have a pre-installed buyer base who will buy i-Anything. However, Apple has reportedly offered at least its navigation technology to Mercedes-Benz:

"Apple is planning to launch an in-car navigation system for Mercedes-Benz. The interface will likely bear strong resemblance to the iPhone, offering a touchscreen interface and borrowing the device's slick Google Maps integration. According to reports, the first 2009 models sporting the new navigation technology are likely to show up in mid to late 2008."

Source: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDrive)