Ford Cites Progress in Debugging Its Telematics System

Ford Motor Co. says version 3.6 of its troubled MyFord Touch in-vehicle communication system is "dramatically improved" and now ranks better than the industry average.

Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford's Americas unit, tells reporters the latest iteration of the voice- and touchscreen-activated system has reduced errors by two-thirds. He declares that Ford aims to make the technology the best in the business.

It's not there yet. Customer complaints that MyFord Touch's software was balky and prone to crashing has caused a sharp drop in the company's consumer satisfaction scores in recent years.

Hinrichs declines to verify widespread reports that Ford is dumping Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system and switching to BlackBerry's QNX platform for the next-generation MyFord Touch system. But he did tell reporters that eliminating "software limitations" with the current architecture will enable Ford to expand the system's capabilities.