• by Aaron Baar , January 7, 2010

LAS VEGAS--Ford is expanding the offerings of its two-year-old in-car technology Sync system to more vehicles with more features.

In the opening keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show on Thursday, Ford CEO Alan Mulally said the Ford Sync technology has helped the company sell more cars and improve its bottom line.

"The in-car technology that Ford chose has proven to be the right one because it has the advantage of connecting customers by their own mobile phone," Mulally said. In a similar address at CES 2009, Mulally said he had a goal to sell 1 million Sync-enabled cars by the end of that year. The company, he said, reached that milestone in May. "We continue to maintain a laser focus on the plan, delivering great products with technologies that people want and value," he said.

Furthermore, according to company research, one-third of the company's buyers said the Sync system was "critical" or "important" to their purchase decision. Eighty-one percent said they were satisfied with the technology, and 77% said they would recommend it to a friend. Furthermore, in a test program with Best Buy, the 70% of the consumers who participated said they were more likely to buy the product, and 80% said understanding how it worked improved their overall opinion of the program.

"As soon as the customers experience Sync, they understand the value of the first experience," Mulally said. As such, the company has enhanced the overall Sync experience and expanded its consumer experience in an initiative the company is calling "MyFord Touch" that will include in-dash LCD screens, five-way push buttons on the steering wheel and voice-recognition technology.

"We wanted to completely rethink the in-car experience," said Jim Buczkowski, director of electrical and electronics system engineering. "What the mouse did for the PC, we needed to create for the automotive interface -- something that lets drivers bring in their phones and connect seamlessly."

The new MyFord system works around the four most-used information used by drivers: Phone, Navigation, Entertainment and Climate. Each of the areas is identified by its own signature color to make them easier to identify with minimal driver distraction. A driver can use them through touch on the control panel, the steering wheel buttons or voice command.

The company has also opened the system up to developers, allowing them to adapt their iPhones and other mobile applications for the MyFord touch system. At the CES, Ford announced partnerships with Pandora Internet radio, Twitter Openbeak and Internet news service Sticher. The company also announced a partnership with MapQuest to provide navigation directions, including a "Send to Sync" function that sends a destination and direction directly to the Sync system.

The MyFord Touch will first appear in the 2011 Edge coming later this fall and will move to the Ford Focus in 2012. Within five years, it will be integrated into 80% of the company's vehicles. (A similar version will become standard equipment on all Lincoln models in 2011, beginning with the 2011 Lincoln MKX.)

"We've developed an environment that will make every Ford vehicle feel like a Ford," said Buczkowski. "Across the country, across the globe, all of our products will have the same type of feel, making them instantly comfortable to the drivers who know and love them, and MyFord will become a key part of the joy of owning and driving a Ford product."