14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft Auto-based Ford Sync has been installed on in excess of 3 million Ford vehicles in the past 3 years in North America alone.
Ken Czubay, Ford vice president of U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service notes that the added feature is designed to kick up a notch the experience of Ford buyers.
“Not only is it proving to differentiate our products from the competition, SYNC is becoming a key point of satisfaction,” he stated.
It was back in May 2009 when Microsoft announced an event at which Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer was handed the keys to a Ford Fusion Hybrid from Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally.
That Ford Fusion Hybrid was considered the 1 millionth Ford car equipped with the Windows Embedded Automotive's Microsoft Auto-based infotainment solution.
One year later, and the US-based car maker had already reached a new milestone, with 2 million Ford vehicles featuring Sync produced. Unfortunately for Ballmer, this time around he did not receive another car.
Nor did he the third time around, when the offer from Ford is a tad more varied with the system now shipping on all Ford and Lincoln products, with just a few exceptions for the price of approximately $395.
And according to Ford, customers couldn’t be happier with the Ford Sync, with over 80% of them expressing willingness to recommend it to their friends.
“When we introduced SYNC, we were committed to making voice recognition a highly useful tool for the driver, and this research confirms we’re on track,” added Jim Buczkowski, a Henry Ford Technical Fellow and director of Ford Electronics and Electrical Systems Engineering, Research and Advanced Engineering.
“Ford remains committed to being the company that will continue to raise the bar on voice recognition as the primary user interface – giving customers the connectivity they want while helping them keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.”
Ford SYNC is designed as a factory-installed, in-car communications and entertainment system which allows drivers to take advantage of the evolution of natural user interfaces by using their voice for hands-free calling, music search, but also get traffic alerts and audible text messages from the system.