NEWS13 April 2010
US— Ford Motor Company has boasted of going “beyond traditional market research” with the launch of a website where members of the public can share ideas about the types of features they would like to see in future car models.
The ‘Your Ideas’ initiative is housed within TheFordStory.com, and invites people to make suggestions for vehicle improvements in the areas of comfort and convenience, connectivity, sustainability, performance and safety.
Published ideas can be reviewed and rated by other users, with the most popular set to be forwarded to Ford’s advanced product marketing and planning teams for review.
“Ford is turning to the social web as an innovative way of generating new vehicle features customer really want and value,” said Mark Fields, the company’s president in the Americas.
Chief technical officer Gerhard Schmidt added: “We no longer believe that any one company or industry has a monopoly on good ideas; and embrace the fact that every good idea for our customers doesn’t have to start with us.”
Ideas posted to date include suggestions for heated steering wheels, a dashboard-mounted emergency engine kill switch and remote engine starters.