Ford inserting Sony stereos into future vehicles
Until Ford spun off Visteon as a separate, barely financially viable company a few years ago, it was pretty much the exclusive supplier of in-vehicle entertainment systems for Ford cars and trucks. More recently, most Fords have had a common Delphi-manufactured head unit installed from the factory. Now comes word that Ford has signed a deal with Sony to offer the latter's audio systems. The first vehicle to be equipped with a Sony branded stereo system will be unveiled next week at the New York Auto Show. Since the Ford Flex (the production version of the Fairlane concept) will be shown there, it will likely be the first Sony-equipped Ford. This isn't the first Sony offering for Ford, with limited edition Focus models having been available previously and several European models including the Mondeo, C-Max and others offering Sony equipment currently.
[Source: Ford]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ellerton 6:17PM (3/28/2007)
I haven't been into car audio in a while, but last time I checked, xPlod car audio sucked.
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sr20de 6:11PM (3/28/2007)
Sweet! Yet another reason to skip the Ford dealer when I buy a car next year.
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Bryan 6:19PM (3/28/2007)
And the reason for that being sr20de? I am an alpine man myself. However, maybe the faces of the radios will be more interesting. I don't care much for the plain black stereo, even though it is probably one of the easiest to use.
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Deezee 6:25PM (3/28/2007)
Pioneer makes the best decks I've used by far. But I'm pretty happy with my current Sony deck. I think this is a good move. Definitely an improvement.
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owen 6:34PM (3/28/2007)
Not that this would make me buy a ford,but i have sony indash dvd flip out screen and a six disk changer in the back ,and it have never skip not one time,plus i like the subwoofer output
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Kamil 9:43PM (3/28/2007)
This happened only for politcal reasons. I dont remember exactly what, but someone at Ford got fired and another person promoted, and that someone used to work for Sony, and that is the reason for Sony radios in Fords. BTW, this will be the higher-end systems, sort of like Bose is for Audi and Infiniti.
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iQuack 6:46PM (3/28/2007)
This reminds me of Hyundai's smart marketing in 1986 when few people then knew what a Hyundai was.
So, to bring familiarity to Hyundai, the cars were sold with Goodyear tires and Panasonic
radios--both widely recognized names to make buyers more comfortable with this new and unknown Korean brand.
It was brilliant marketing that helped sell more Hyundais than expected during the first year.
Of course, sales fell in succeeding years after those early Hundais proved to be dreadful crap. And Hyundais were easy to break into so many of those Panasonic radios were stolen.
Sony audio is excellent, but it certainly wouldn't cause me to buy any Ford.
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nick 7:27PM (3/28/2007)
Didn't they offer Sony radios in the Focus a few years ago? Hey, they did!
http://tinyurl.com/29hrcy
I wonder what's going to be different this time?
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naggs 7:06PM (3/28/2007)
that sony xplode crap was hideous. i would be embarassed to have that in my car. it was nasty cheap plastic buttons and it looked very future 90s. hopefully the new stuff is better.
ill stick with my alpine
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BCM 7:12PM (3/28/2007)
The Focus wasn't a limited edition, the Audiophile/Sony system is an optional upgrade on all SE and SES models. I don't see this as a big deal, as lots of makes have various branded audio systems from Bose, Mark Levinson, Infinity, Audiophile, etc., which range from indifferent to satisfactory. It's not much different from the push to brand-name interior fabrics and leathers. Still, we've come a long way from the days when Daimler-Benz loyally installed dreadful Becker radios in costly Mercedes.
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Ted 8:53PM (3/28/2007)
The new Sony units will probably have bluetooth capability and they will install a rootkit on your laptop and cell phone.
There probably won't be any iPod support either. Alpine and Pioneer have iPod support. An aux input is not enough - it needs to control the iPod and display the iPod info on the dash.
-ted
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whofan 9:00PM (3/28/2007)
What? I can`t get a Philco radio in a Ford anymore. What a shame.
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whofan 9:00PM (3/28/2007)
What? I can`t get a Philco radio in a Ford anymore. What a shame.
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CrazyKenyan 8:08AM (3/29/2007)
When I was in the UK at this time last year, I visited a cousin in Birmingham. His Ford Focus had a really nice Sony audio system, not the Xplode stuff. It included a Bluetooth feature that incoming calls on your Bluetooth phone got routed to the front speakers, and a microphone in the front-right corner got activated (they drive on the left in UK). It's surprising that here in the USA we are behind the rest of the west. Or should I say west of west? But this is welcome info that may spur me to influence my dad's next purchase of a Ford vehicle.
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Ronman 9:24PM (3/28/2007)
Ford has used Alpine-badged stereos in Lincolns for quite a few years, and has offered Pioneer audio gear in the Ranger and Explorer SporTrac for several years. The uplevel Focus MP3 changer has been sourced from Blaupunkt for years now, too.
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SobeSVT 6:25AM (3/29/2007)
Ford has collaborated with companies other than Sony before on their entertainment systems. Boston Acoustic with the excelent Audiphile System in the SVT Focus, Alpine with an optional sound system in the Lincoln LS and Pioneer with the current Nav system (ranked among the two best in the industry, the other being the one offered by Toyota) come to mind. Like you said, even Sony has collaborated with Ford before.
The only thing more weirder than showing this piece of news as something new for Ford is the very moronic responses like 1 and 11.
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That One Person 11:52PM (3/28/2007)
Yeah, I doubt Ford is going to use Sony's Xplod equipment. Anyone with a brain and some knowledge in stereos knows Xplod is only cool to high school teenagers who think they are getting a good deal but end up having to replace the speakers every three months. Xplod sucks. Sony's higher end stuff is nice. And I am sure that's what Ford is going to use. I would personally like to see Alpine or maybe Infinity in their vehicles.
I personally have a Alpine head unit and six Infinity speakers in my Regal (two tweeters, two 2-ways and two 3-ways). I dont even have all high end stuff (Infinity's cheapest speakers) and my system is a lot better than a lot of factory installed units out there.
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Bryan 12:37AM (3/29/2007)
BCM it was a limited edition. As one of my early jobs in life (selling cars) this particular model was sold. Also was a Kona edition, which I think was the best looking Focus edition next to the SVT.
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Lee Roy Brandon III 1:04AM (3/29/2007)
I seem to remember back in the 90's when Fords came with JBL equipment. Unless the sound system is completely designed specifically for the car it is put in (a la the Harmon Kardon systems in Land Rovers and other "luxury" brands), I would prefer a delete option on pretty much any car stereo out there, so that I could spend the money on a system that I would have installed anyway. The mark-up the automakers charge on sound systems is obscene.
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shimman 1:38AM (3/29/2007)
like sony name matters nowdays; i would rather take bose than sony & i thought bose was a POS
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