Ford Bets on the Digital Car

Engineerblogger
Jan 9, 2012

Infotainment: In an illustration of the interior of the Evos concept car from Ford, vehicle displays show games, movies, and data downloaded from the Internet. Credit: Ford

About a decade ago, Doug VanDagens, a senior executive at Ford Motor Company, raised his hand at a board meeting and asked a fundamental strategy question: Why go proprietary when the world is moving to open-source?

At the time, Ford was concerned about its Detroit rival GM. At issue was GM's OnStar, the successful in-car communication device offering emergency alerts, stolen-car tracking, and a built-in phone for an annual fee of $199 (plus cellular-minute charges). The OnStar business had two million subscribers and an 80 percent share of the car communications services market, and it was valued at over $4 billion.

GM was raking in profits, and Ford was struggling to play catch-up. It had hired 250 people and plowed over $150 million into a spin-off called Wingcast that was building a me-too answer to OnStar. But VanDagens thought the era of closed, black-box solutions was drawing to a close. The number of cell-phone subscribers was growing quickly. So was the ability of phones to communicate with other devices. "The writing was on the wall," recalls VanDagens, who today is Ford's director of connected-services solutions.

After an internal battle, VanDagens was given the job of shutting down Wingcast and laying off its staff. By the fall of 2007, Ford had instead launched Sync, a system developed with Microsoft that works with drivers' own cell phones and MP3 players. It uses Bluetooth to connect these devices to buttons on the car's stereo and steering wheel, so that drivers can make hands-free calls or have Twitter updates read aloud. No matter how fast new models of phones are introduced, they still work with Ford cars.

Sync isn't unique—Mercedes has a similar system, as do other automakers. All the same, Ford's early move to a more open technology platform has given it an edge over its crosstown rival (last year, GM announced MyLink, a Sync-like infotainment package), and it has helped turn the 108-year-old automaker into the coolest technology company in the Rust Belt.

That's important because, increasingly, digital technology sells cars. This week at the Detroit Auto Show, and simultaneously at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, auto companies will be showing off their cars' electronic gadgetry, downloaded movies, and music, not just their engine muscle. For most consumers, navigation systems and entertainment are now a top reason to pick one car over another.
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Ford shows new Evos concept car at Frankfurt show

Engineerblogger
Sept 14, 2011

Ford Motor Co. is giving a hint of what forthcoming models will look like with its Evos concept car, a streamlined four-seater with slender LED headlights and a high front grille.

Four gull-wing doors, front and rear, were popped up as the car was displayed at the Frankfurt auto show on Tuesday.

The outlandish doors probably won't make it to production. And the extreme fastback silhouette, with a low raked back windshield and roofline that sinks sharply to the rear, may be softened.

But Ford's group vice president of design, J Mays, said several Evos elements might appear on production models to be unveiled in just a couple of months. For instance, the sleek, light-emitting diode headlights, a low aerodynamic profile, and the high-set black grille.

"Design elements that you see on this rather extreme concept car will work their way into not one, but a whole host of vehicles," said Mays.

The headlines in particular are a novelty. Some manufacturers use large headlights as a prominent design element. But Mays says the Evos' lights — mere slits — will help give a premium, high-tech look to what will be mass-market vehicles.

"Those, surprisingly, are very practical and as we go to LED technology it has allowed us to really bring down the heights. So those you will see in production — maybe not that small, but noticeably smaller than the norm from other manufacturers."

The thin lights also help reduce the size of the raised grille, which gives the car only one major opening up front, instead of two, for better aerodynamics.

The Evos design elements will appear on cars in all of Fords' global markets.

Source: The AP

Ford and Toyota Team on Hybrid System

Engineerblogger

August 22, 2011

You might think that automakers always have one another in the crosshairs. But it turns out there can be opportunities for collaboration, especially when it comes to advanced technology and bringing it to the public sooner and more affordably than one automaker could do alone. Case in point? Ford and Toyota, the two leading manufacturers of hybrid vehicles, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the intent to jointly develop a hybrid system for light trucks and SUVs.



The two will potentially bring the best of their independently developed hybrid powertrain technology and knowledge to a new co-developed hybrid system, which may be used in rear-wheel-drive light trucks. Ford and Toyota have been working separately on similar new rear-wheel-drive hybrid systems aimed at delivering higher fuel economy in light trucks and SUVs. When the two companies began discussing this potential collaboration, they discovered how quickly they were able to find common ground.

While the proposed rear-wheel-drive hybrid system may share significant common technology and components, Ford and Toyota will individually integrate the system into their own vehicles. Each company also will determine the calibration and performance dynamics characteristics of their respective light pickups and SUVs.

“This is the kind of collaborative effort that is required to address the big global challenges of energy independence and environmental sustainability,” said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally.

In addition, as telematics plays an increasingly more important role in the in-car experience, both companies have also agreed to collaborate on standards and technologies needed to enable a safer, more secure and more convenient in-car experience for next-generation telematics systems. The telematics collaboration relates only to standards and technologies, and each company will continue to separately develop their own in-vehicle products and features.

“We have unique and very good solutions today with SYNC® and MyFord Touch™. Working together on in-vehicle standards can only enhance our customers’ experience with their vehicles,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford Group Vice President, Global Product Development.

Source: Ford Motor Company

Research Team Helps Ford and Future Customers Get a Better Grip on Tire Technology

Manufacturing.net
July 6, 2011

Ford Motor Company has established a unique cross-functional team whose mission is to develop innovative new tires that improve safety, boost fuel economy and enhance vehicle handling.

Located at Ford's Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn, the dedicated tire team works closely with Ford's Chassis Engineering and Vehicle Engineering functions, as well as leading tire companies, to test new compounds, new tread designs and other innovations.

Most automakers don't influence significantly the development of the tires they use. But tires -- the only component that touches the road while you drive -- are one of the most important components of any vehicle.

Because tire tread is the main contributor to rolling resistance, which is simply the measure of force needed to roll the wheel forward, the team has focused its immediate attention on this part of the tire.

The three key attributes to any road tire tread are traction or grip, wear and rolling resistance. The challenge to building a better tire is that often improving one attribute may compromise another. A tire with better grip, for example, may have a higher rolling resistance and therefore, energy consumption.

"Traditionally, the challenge of improving tire treads is to expand all facets of the 'magic triangle' - grip, wear and rolling resistance. We want to improve all attributes without compromising others," said Dan Haakenson, technical expert, Vehicle Dynamics. "Our goal is to anticipate, innovate and incorporate technologies to make Ford a leader in fuel economy and to help deliver superior low-rolling-resistance tires to customers faster than anyone else."
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Ford to offer inflatable seat belts in more cars

AP
June 21, 2011

Ford Motor Co. will offer inflatable rear seat belts in more of its vehicles starting next summer.

Ford was the first in the industry to offer the belts, which are now available on the 2011 Ford Explorer SUV. The company plans to offer them on the Ford Flex, a seven-passenger crossover wagon, and two unnamed Lincoln vehicles.

Inflatable seat belts look like regular seat belts but with slightly more padding, since the air bag is sewn into them. When the car is in a severe crash, a balloon-like cushion inflates along the belt from the shoulder to the buckle. The belts help prevent chest injuries by distributing the force of the crash over an area that's five times larger than a traditional seat belt. They also cushion the neck.

Ford spent a decade designing and testing the belts. While they fill quickly — in 40 milliseconds — they are less forceful than traditional, steering wheel-mounted air bags because they don't need to bridge the space between the wheel and the person they're protecting. They also fill with cold compressed gas instead of the heat-producing chemical reaction used in traditional air bags. The cold gas and slower speed make the bags safer for young children.

Srini Sundararajan, a safety technical leader at Ford who was primarily responsible for developing the belts, said the company hasn't yet heard of any cases where the belts prevented injuries, but expects to once the new Explorer has been on the road longer. Ford has sold more than 65,000 Explorers since the new SUV went on sale in December.

Ford said 40 percent of Explorer buyers have chosen the inflatable seat belt option. It costs $195 to add the belts to the Explorer XLT, which starts at $31,520.

Sundararajan said Ford is considering adding inflatable seat belts to the front seats, but is still studying how much benefit they would provide.

Ford and a Michigan-based supplier, Key Safety Systems Inc., hold a patent on the inflatable seats belts.

Toyota Motor Corp. has inflatable seat belts made by Takata Corp. in its Lexus LFA sports car, which went on sale after the Explorer.

Ford profits drive centres on Asia

Financial Times
June 8, 2011

Ford Motor, the largest US car manufacturer by market capitalisation, plans to push its profit margins sharply higher over the next few years as it raises global sales, the company said on Tuesday.

It set out the plan along with a target of raising its worldwide sales by about 50 per cent to 8m vehicles by the middle of the decade, with much of the growth coming from Asia, traditionally Ford’s weakest region.

Like other car companies, Ford is being hit by the shift to smaller vehicles for which margins are generally lower.

That trend is set to continue in the coming decade, with small cars set to rise from 48 per cent of Ford’s sales by volume in 2010 to 55 per cent by 2020.

However, the company believes it can offset that effect by cost reductions, enhancing its brand and selling more highly equipped vehicles.

It expects the net effect will be that its global operating margin will rise from 6.1 per cent in 2010 to 8-9 per cent “by the middle of the decade”.

Lewis Booth, Ford’s chief financial officer, told the Financial Times that the company was planning for growth after emerging from the crisis in the US motor industry, which was something it had failed to do after previous downturns.

Unlike GM, the largest US manufacturer by sales, and Chrysler, Ford was not bailed out by the US government.
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• Ford: bold goal:  Ambitious new sales target will require a continuation of shift to smaller cars and playing catch-up in China and India... To read more click here...

Ford plans to Team with Sollers in Russia

Associated Press
Feb 18, 2011

Ford Motor Co. is teaming up with Russian automaker Sollers to make and distribute cars in Russia, one of the fastest growing auto markets.

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