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Ford to bring Net to drivers
January 9, 2000: 9:02 p.m. ET

Company says its cars will connect to Internet within two to three years
By Staff Writer Chris Isidore
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DETROIT (CNNfn) - On the day that automakers traditionally unveil their concept cars to the press, Ford Motor Co. instead pushed its plans to bring the Internet to every driver.
    "One hundred years ago, Henry Ford put the world on wheels," said Jac Nasser, Ford's chief executive. "The new Ford Motor Co. will put the Internet on wheels. We will do nothing short of transforming cars and trucks into portals."
    Company executives said that within two to three years virtually all Ford vehicles will have voice-activated Internet access, letting drivers send and retrieve e-mail, get directions, news and entertainment over the Internet, all without taking their hands off the wheels, let alone logging onto a computer at home. Eventually the cars could tell the shop that it needs service or tell the police where it is if it's been stolen -- all before the owner even knows of the problem.
    On a more immediate basis Ford also announced an agreement with Yahoo!! to let owners register their cars online at Yahoo! Auto and get recall notices, service reminders, information on their credit accounts, driving directions and real-time traffic reports in major markets. Eventually customers will be able to schedule service appointments online.
    

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    Photo source: Ford Motor Co., via Weick Photo
    Ford's concept dashboard for its 24-7 in-car Internet service, unveiled Sunday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Ford says virtually all of its cars will have Internet connections within two to three years.
    

    Ford unveiled the plans at the North American International Auto Show on the day that automakers traditionally unveil their new concept cars to get consumers and the media excited about future car designs. But Ford didn't even both to bring concept cars to the show Sunday, instead showing stylized vehicles that were meant to stand-in for any future car or truck. The message was that in Ford's views, the vehicles are less important than the Internet option it promises to offer.
    "These are just the boxes they come in," said J. Mays, Ford's vice president of design, explaining the three unnamed vehicles filling the stage. Mays said the colorful models were meant to evoke the image of an Apple iMac computer rather than a traditional car.
    Ford's online service will be known as 24-7, and will be available in some models in Europe this fall. That's because of a more standardized digital communication system there than now exists in the United States. But within three years, Ford expects the service will be available on every vehicle it makes anywhere in the world. Basic, emergency-only service would be free, but Ford expects to make some of money through monthly service charges, depending on the level of service that customers want.
    "It'll have content and functions none of us have even thought of today," said Brian Kelley, president of Ford's e-business unit. One function Ford foresees in the future is remote diagnosis, in which Ford can monitor a vehicle's vital operating systems and arrange for service as necessary.
    Kelley wouldn't say how much the equipment would cost either Ford or consumers, other than to say that the price is dropping, and that it would continue to drop.
    

    
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    Photo source: CNNfn.com
    Jac Nasser, chief executive at Ford, and Jerry Yang, co-founder and chief at Yahoo!, surrounded by reporters Sunday after announcing a new partnership.
    

    
Rivals on the information superhighway

    GM already has some in-car links to the Internet through its on-star system, which it plans to offer as an option on all vehicles with the 2001 model year, rather than just as standard equipment on its luxury models. It also will start e-mail through voice recognition later this year as part of that system. That equipment costs about $300 per vehicle, said Mark Hogan, president of e-GM.
    "Jac says he'll bring this to everyone first, but we believe we're in the lead," said Hogan.
    DaimlerChrysler AG offers onboard navigation and other services on its high-priced Mercedes, and its semi-tractors used by truckers. James Holden, president of the company, said Sunday he's not convinced the broad market wants the services at this time.
    "We know how to do it. It's a matter of making a business case for it," he said. "Good luck to them (GM and Ford). If you can charge for the service, there may be a business opportunity. But there is a huge upfront investment to own that kind of network. Put a pencil to it, and you'll see it's not going to be a profit opportunity in the short-term."
    But all automakers will soon have to make offers for this kind of service, said David Cole, director of the office for the study of automotive transportation at the University of Michigan.
    "It seems as if GM and Ford are in a real horse race to marry cars and technology," he said. He said while there may be higher costs from being among the leaders in the field, there is also a chance to gain a marketing and brand identity advantage with consumers for whom this will be an important option. And while catching up will be quicker for the latecomers due to the nature of technological changes, there will be risks from waiting, Cole said.
    "You might catch up and discover the leaders have moved onto something else," he said. Back to top

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.