Bill Pierre Ford

Ford Verve Concept – a bold and colourful concept car to be revealed at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show – gives the first hints of Ford’s future small-car design vision.
Building on the kinetic design momentum of Ford’s recent iosis and iosis X concept cars, and the more premium feel of production models like the new Ford Mondeo, the Ford Verve Concept is a bold expression of a small-car vision.

The concept’s heating/ventilation controls, highlighted in a lozenge shape at the midpoint of the centre stack, feature large twist dials which were inspired by the sculpture
showers.
The center stack structure flows into a center console, which provides stowage areas, including a tray for a mobile phone or MP3 player, as well as a large bin for a purse or shoulder bag near the handbrake.

Ford Sync, an advanced in-car communication and entertainment system developed in collaboration with Microsoft. Sync will be standard on Lincoln vehicles and widely available on Ford and Mercury vehicles. In most cases, Sync will be included as standard equipment on high-series models from Ford and Mercury – the Ford Edge Limited or Ford Focus SES, for example. On models where Sync is optional, it will be priced at $395. On certain lower-series vehicles where enabling equipment – such as steering wheel audio controls — is not standard, additional equipment may be required at an additional cost.

This content includes cassette players (which are on their way out, he says), CD players, DVD players, satellite radio, digital audio and video, text messaging, ring tones, games, navigation systems, e-mail, and others. There’s also telematics, such as roadside assistance or concierge services.

Sync also will support Bluetooth audio for streaming digital audio from mobile devices that hold music files, and can even be used to stream Internet radio stations from Web-connected smart phones and PDAs.

Ford organizes this content in three categories: built-in, brought-in and beamed-in.The first models to offer Sync as an option in fall 2007 include Ford’s Five Hundred, Explorer, Focus, Freestyle, and Fusion; Lincoln’s MKX and MKZ; and the Mercury Milan.