Ford Continues Rollout Of Built-In Alexa With New, Enhanced Car Control That Personalizes In-Vehicle Experiences

Ford and Lincoln recently announced that customers with Amazon Alexa Built-in can now teach Alexa to perform vehicle functions based on their preferred phrasing. The company plans to treat customers to world-first technology demonstrations at the New York International Auto Show later this month.

With newly-enhanced Car Control, customers now have the ability to tailor Alexa to their natural speech, personalizing Alexa to suit their everyday tone and vocabulary. For example, a driver can say, “Alexa, I’m cold,”, and Alexa will ask what action should be taken. The response may be something like: “I can increase the temperature by 5 degrees or turn off the AC. What should I do?” Likewise, customers can also teach Alexa personalized phrases with their familiar voice commands. For example, you can say, “Alexa, set the AC to high,” or “Alexa, set the temperature to comfortable” In this instance, Alexa’s teachable AI technology allows her tol recognize the supported voice command pattern and request clarification from the driver to learn what terms like “high” or “comfortable” specifically means to them.

This feature is a welcome addition to what is already set to be the auto industry’s most extensive rollout of the Alexa Built-in hands-free experience. The rollout began with the 2022 F-150, Mustang Mach-E, Edge, Bronco, the relaunched Expedition, Nautilus, and newly reintroduced Navigator – and will soon be expanding to the 2022 F-150 Lightning™. 

“Ford pioneered SYNC in-vehicle voice technology, and Amazon’s Alexa voice AI continues to advance the industry with more innovative, personalized experiences,” said Yvonne Gloria, Supervisor at Ford Core Speech Technology. “We are making it even easier for drivers to stay focused on driving by using more voice commands because you can now train your vehicle to do tasks based on your preferences and how you naturally speak.”

Following the breakthrough SYNC launch, the first to bring Alexa to vehicles in 2017, Ford continues to expand customer choice. Data compiled through a study conducted by both J.D. Power and Amazon shows that nearly 80 percent of American consumers say they want the same voice service in their car as they do at home.

“We are always working to improve the in-cabin experience, and core to that is making it easier for customers to naturally interact with Alexa,” said John Scumniotales, GM and Director for Amazon Smart Vehicles. “The enhanced Car Control features offer customers a new level of personalization—and demonstrating this functionality with Ford is an important step toward our vision of conversations with Alexa feeling as familiar as speaking with a family member or friend sitting in the passenger seat.”