Live From CES: Interview with Ford CEO Alan Mulally

Following Alan Mulally's keynote address at CES, DISCOVER's Stephen Cass spoke to him about how an automotive company adjusted to the breakneck pace of the consumer electronic industry, and why he felt the Sync technology was so important. DISCOVER: It's a challenging time for the automobile industry. Why did you feel it was important to leave Detroit and come to Las Vegas to deliver this keynote? Mulally: We wanted to share with everybody all of our new technology associated with Sync, a lot of new capability that goes across all of our cars. It’s really a time when the electronics industry and the automobile industry are really coming together to create a lot of value. So we had a chance to talk about all these new products -- this is a great venue to do that because you’ve got so many people in the electronics industry here and so many of our partners are here too. DISCOVER: What kind of cultural shift did embracing the Sync impose on Ford? Mulally: The electronic industry changes so quickly. We’re marrying that with an automobile industry where we come out with a new product every two or three years. So all of a sudden, [we were] marrying a cycle time for creating a car with a cycle time of electronics. DISCOVER: One of the themes of your keynote was learning from the electronics industry. Conversely, do you think the electronics industry has anything it could learn from the automotive industry? Mulally: One thing that comes to mind is the importance of really focusing on the customer, what they really need and what they value. Think about all this capability that we’re bringing to the driver, but the most important thing we do is create an environment where the driver is even a better driver. It’s a safer environment. Really thinking about what has value in the consumer's eyes is something that both industries will do together going forward. DISCOVER: Looking to the future, you talked about creating a platform for people to run plug-and-play information and service applications. Are there any thoughts about extending that to, say, allow an application to adjust the timing of the car's engine if the driver wants to try a new biofuel that appears on the market? Mulally: I think we’d say that we’re just about right by giving the driver information, letting them know the health of the car. I think that when you go past that you’re going into a expertise area that ought to be left to the people making the car. But letting the driver know exactly what the car's status is, and where it might need special attention, that’s really value added capability. DISCOVER: For some people, the ability to escape the world for a little while is a very important part of their driving experience. Will connecting the car up to so much information from the outside world threaten that experience? Mulally: I think just the opposite. This approach allows the driver to absolutely stay in charge. The whole thing is for us to access stuff when we want it in a way that’s very efficient. So if you want to be by yourself you can be by yourself. And if you need directions or if you need any of the other services you can get them with a lot less fuss than having to go through maps and stop along the way. I think it is going to put us even more in control of our lives.