[h=3]By MIKE RAMSEY[/h] Ford Motor Co. is going back to buttons and knobs.
Punished by third-party quality reports because of the difficulty of using its touch-screen multimedia system, called MyFord Touch, the auto maker will reprise tuning and volume knobs for the radio as it redesigns existing models, a top Ford executive said.
It is a reversal for Ford, which has been a first-mover with installing mobile-phone-based technologies, voice recognition and touch screens in its vehicles. The systems have been a big selling point for Ford with its vehicles, but also have dragged down its reputation for quality.
Ford is trying to solve continued complaints about the system, which includes a touch-screen interface as well as voice-activated controls and pairing with a smartphone. At the same time, Ford says it believes the system helps sell its vehicles, citing customers opting for the system.
The company wouldn't say when the redesigned entertainment system would first appear, but said all vehicles would get the changes as models are updated or replaced.
Ford is expected to release figures on Monday that show that 80% of its buyers choose Ford vehicles with the Sync or MyFord touch system, and they are one of the top reasons customers choose the vehicle. Buyers that have the systems, like their vehicles more than the those who don't.
"The satisfaction is higher on the vehicles equipped with MyFord Touch than without," Raj Nair, Ford's global product development chief, said in an interview. "We've been able to spend a lot of time with customers to find what exactly are the areas that are bothering them."
One of the things that bothered customers was the inability to quickly change the channel or volume on the radio through familiar knobs, he said. As Ford redesigns its vehicles, the flat control panels with add more buttons and knobs and the main screen will become simpler.
Ford disclosed the change two days before J.D. Power & Associates releases its closely followed review of new-car quality, its Initial Quality Survey release. The survey asks new-car buyers about things gone wrong in the first few months of ownership. Ford's ranking plunged in 2011 and 2012 after MyFord Touch was launched.
After the 2011 survey dropped Ford from among the top auto makers to below average, the auto maker overhauled its system and released software updates, including a major one last spring that fixed bugs, redesigned the layout and improved the voice recognition. Another update is coming this summer, Ford said.
But Ford's internal customer surveys show the auto maker could get bad marks again, in part because a much higher percentage of Ford buyers get the multimedia system than purchasers of competing vehicles, opening the company up to more potential flaws, the company said.
Ford changed the way it developed the system, hiring human-machine interface experts from consumer electronics companies. It created a new board, made up engineers and designers, to make sure all the functions worked well with one another, and then sent a senior Ford engineer to Microsoft Corp. for five months to develop an upgrade for the system.
The upgrade was launched last year to address many of the bugs that plagued the system, but the touch screen still baffled some customers who found it difficult to navigate while driving.
Before the upgrade, John Kissling had to reboot his MyFord Touch system on his 2012 Ford Explorer every few months after it would freeze, run slow or simply stop functioning correctly.
"It was kind of annoying when you had to reboot it before. It wasn't like a big deal because I have been around computers enough," said Mr. Kissling, of Topeka, Kan. "The gal in the dash—her name is Sophie to us—she understands what you are saying a whole lot better than she used to, not that we don't argue once in awhile."
Write to Mike Ramsey at [email protected]
A version of this article appeared June 17, 2013, on page B3 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Ford to Add Back Dashboard Buttons After Complaints.
Punished by third-party quality reports because of the difficulty of using its touch-screen multimedia system, called MyFord Touch, the auto maker will reprise tuning and volume knobs for the radio as it redesigns existing models, a top Ford executive said.
It is a reversal for Ford, which has been a first-mover with installing mobile-phone-based technologies, voice recognition and touch screens in its vehicles. The systems have been a big selling point for Ford with its vehicles, but also have dragged down its reputation for quality.
Ford is trying to solve continued complaints about the system, which includes a touch-screen interface as well as voice-activated controls and pairing with a smartphone. At the same time, Ford says it believes the system helps sell its vehicles, citing customers opting for the system.
The company wouldn't say when the redesigned entertainment system would first appear, but said all vehicles would get the changes as models are updated or replaced.
Ford is expected to release figures on Monday that show that 80% of its buyers choose Ford vehicles with the Sync or MyFord touch system, and they are one of the top reasons customers choose the vehicle. Buyers that have the systems, like their vehicles more than the those who don't.
"The satisfaction is higher on the vehicles equipped with MyFord Touch than without," Raj Nair, Ford's global product development chief, said in an interview. "We've been able to spend a lot of time with customers to find what exactly are the areas that are bothering them."
One of the things that bothered customers was the inability to quickly change the channel or volume on the radio through familiar knobs, he said. As Ford redesigns its vehicles, the flat control panels with add more buttons and knobs and the main screen will become simpler.
Ford disclosed the change two days before J.D. Power & Associates releases its closely followed review of new-car quality, its Initial Quality Survey release. The survey asks new-car buyers about things gone wrong in the first few months of ownership. Ford's ranking plunged in 2011 and 2012 after MyFord Touch was launched.
After the 2011 survey dropped Ford from among the top auto makers to below average, the auto maker overhauled its system and released software updates, including a major one last spring that fixed bugs, redesigned the layout and improved the voice recognition. Another update is coming this summer, Ford said.
But Ford's internal customer surveys show the auto maker could get bad marks again, in part because a much higher percentage of Ford buyers get the multimedia system than purchasers of competing vehicles, opening the company up to more potential flaws, the company said.
Ford changed the way it developed the system, hiring human-machine interface experts from consumer electronics companies. It created a new board, made up engineers and designers, to make sure all the functions worked well with one another, and then sent a senior Ford engineer to Microsoft Corp. for five months to develop an upgrade for the system.
The upgrade was launched last year to address many of the bugs that plagued the system, but the touch screen still baffled some customers who found it difficult to navigate while driving.
Before the upgrade, John Kissling had to reboot his MyFord Touch system on his 2012 Ford Explorer every few months after it would freeze, run slow or simply stop functioning correctly.
"It was kind of annoying when you had to reboot it before. It wasn't like a big deal because I have been around computers enough," said Mr. Kissling, of Topeka, Kan. "The gal in the dash—her name is Sophie to us—she understands what you are saying a whole lot better than she used to, not that we don't argue once in awhile."
Write to Mike Ramsey at [email protected]
A version of this article appeared June 17, 2013, on page B3 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Ford to Add Back Dashboard Buttons After Complaints.