Bill Pierre Ford

Capping off a year in which it gained market share and a lot of attention for not needing government bailouts, Ford won both the North American car of the year and truck of the year awards at the North American International Auto Show today.

The Fusion hybrid sedan took honors for car of the year while the Transit Connect small commercial van was the award-winning truck.

Built in Mexico, the Fusion was a sales winner for Ford in 2009 with a 22 percent increase. The vehicle has won praise for its fit and finish, fuel economy and its looks.

Built from many of the same basic parts as the European Ford Focus, the Transit Connect launched in the United States last year. Ford has said it will move production to the United States from Europe when sales warrant the move.

Critics have called the van a game changer for the commercial vehicle segment because it offers many small businesses the capacity they need for less money and more miles per gallon than a larger, Avon Lake-built E-Series commercial van.

Other nominees for the awards were the Chevrolet Equinox crossover, Buick LaCrosse sedan and the Volkswagen GTI small car. Awards are based on votes by automotive journalists.

Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally’s keynote at the International Consumer Electronics Show today made me think two things. First, the company is doing something very clever and cool in its cars, taking advantage of the mobile connection virtually every driver now carries to bring online apps to life in the car. The apps platform my colleague Alex Pham wrote about Wednesday, combined with the ability of car owners to send information from their PCs to their cars (think directions and points of interest), will make drivers more Web-connected, informed and entertained.

Not to mention distracted, which brings me to point No. 2. What Ford is doing is utterly politically incorrect. While lawmakers across the country are passing progressively tighter strictures on what people can do in their cars, Ford is developing technology that makes it easier for drivers to gab on the phone, scan for nearby restaurants and keep up with incoming text messages.

The reaction from safety advocates has been, um, less than enthusiastic. Consider the screech emanating from Common Sense Media …

… a group that focuses on helping families shield children from inappropriate types of entertainment:

Multiple LCD screens, personalized color schemes, browseable phone books, touch screens, song tagging, and the means to transform a car into a mobile internet hub – wow, that’s a virtual carnival in your car. Ford calls their system a “simpler, smarter, safer” way to stay connected while driving, and though it’s an exciting development for wireless technology, it’s clearly a dangerous precedent for young drivers who already admit to being distracted.

Ford executives argue that people are going to be fumbling with their iPods, texting on their BlackBerrys and looking up directions regardless of what carmakers (or policymakers) do.  So by bringing such activities into its Sync system, where they can be controlled by uttering commands or manipulating switches on the steering wheel, Ford is making them less distracting. As Mulally put it in an interview Wednesday, “You don’t want them looking at another device. … We really think you’ll be more focused.”

Obviously, the market will decide how far Ford can go. Some companies are racing in the other direction; in fact, there are several at CES (including, believe it or not, Taser ) showing off technologies that limit what drivers can do behind the wheel. Meanwhile, Ford’s sales numbers say the public is on its side. Derrick Kuzak, group vice president of product development, said Fords equipped with the Sync connectivity technology sell twice as quickly as those that aren’t. And its surveys show that Sync makes people more likely to buy a Ford, and more satisfied with their cars after they drive them home.

So here’s something to ponder. If Ford had taken federal bailout dollars alongside General Motors and Chrysler in 2008 and 2009, would it be free to do things that fly in the face of what policymakers and lobbyists want? Would it be coming out with ever more powerful versions of Sync, or would it be pursuing a technology agenda that’s closer to Washington’s heart — say, by putting its chips on electric cars instead of mobile phones?

A key part of Mulally’s strategy since he took over in 2006 has been to give Ford a reputation for being on the leading edge of technology in cars. Sync certainly helps in that regard. Its strategy of leveraging the connectivity and software of the rapidly innovating mobile phone industry positions Ford to “move with the whole cellphone industry,” as Kuzak put it. Oh and by the way, Ford’s share of the U.S. market climbed to 15.5%, more than a percentage point higher than it was a year ago. That’s a far cry from the mid-20s of a decade ago, but Ford’s heading in a better direction than GM or Chrysler.