Dealers Offering Lessons for Complex MyFord Touch System to New Car Buyers

Anybody’s who’s purchased a 2011 Ford Edge or Lincoln MKX, will no doubt be familiar with the My Ford/MyLincoln/Touch interface.

However, the technology is so new and apparently so baffling that Consumer Reports went as far to put strikes against the new Edge and MKX, saying that MyFord Touch was so complicated and distracting that it could not recommend either of these vehicles to consumers on that basis alone.

Now Ford dealers are fighting back, taking the initiative by setting up workshops to show customers how to use the new technology; some are even going as far as hiring ‘technology’ specialists.

Like with any new technology, there is obviously a learning curve with how that new technology works,” declared Collin Sewell, Chairman of the Ford National Dealer Council. “We have a responsibility to help customers learn how to fully utilize the great new products that they are buying.”

MyFord Touch essentially groups the vehicle’s communication, entertainment and temperature controls into a central interface, with all functions activated by either touching the screen, steering wheel controls or voice commands. However unlike Sync, it must be used to operate key features in the vehicle, instead of allowing customers to learn at their own pace, likely the main reason for Consumer Reports’ damming remarks.

Furthermore, Ford is also pushing ahead with plans to install it in approximately 80 percent of its vehicles by the year 2015, so many dealers see it as being in their best interests to show customers how it works.

Although Ford Motor Company itself hasn’t yet officially endorsed the workshops dealers are offering, some are hoping they will receive some kind of compensation for putting such programs in place.

I think that there’s a discussion that needs to happen,” remarked Brian Godfrey, general sales manager Pat Milliken Ford in Redford, Michigan.

[Source: The Detroit Free Press]