Ford’s Rear Inflatable Seat Belts, MyFord Touch and MyKey Take Home the Gold as 2011 Edison Award Winners

• Ford’s industry-exclusive technologies – rear inflatable seat belts, MyFord Touch™ and MyKey® – each received top honors as 2011 Edison Best New Product Award winners by grabbing the Gold in their respective categories
• SYNC® AppLink captured recognition as a Silver award winner, second only to MyFord Touch in the Transportation – In-Car Driving Aids category
• Ford CEO Alan Mulally, a first-time Edison honoree, was presented with the prestigious Edison Achievement Award for his career-long commitment to innovation

DEARBORN, Mich., April 6, 2011 – With pioneering technology, forward-thinking innovation and market success behind them, three of Ford’s latest industry-exclusive technologies – rear inflatable seat belts, MyFord Touch™ and MyKey® – took Gold at the internationally known 2011 Edison Best New Product Awards™ gala in New York last night.

Joining the Ford family of 2011 Edison Award Gold winners was a Silver award for SYNC® AppLink.

“We are pleased that our latest consumer technologies have been recognized as Edison Award winners, a testament to our skilled and motivated teams that are passionate about and committed to developing industry-first innovations our customers want and value,” said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president, Ford Global Product Development.

The distinguished awards program symbolizes the persistence and excellence personified by Thomas Alva Edison, inspiring America’s drive to remain in the forefront of innovation, creativity and ingenuity in the global economy.

This year’s winners were chosen by around 2,000 members of the not-for-profit Marketing Executives Networking Group, an organization comprising America’s top marketing professionals and academics. The comprehensive peer-review process judged nominees on marketplace innovation, marketplace success, technological innovation, market structure innovation, societal impact and design innovation.

MyFord Touch, MyKey, SYNC AppLink and rear inflatable seat belts – each an industry-first innovation – were announced as Edison Award finalists earlier this year, joining an impressive yet compact list of nominated products and services from innovation powerhouses such as Nike, Disney, Logitech, The Coca-Cola Company and Lockheed Martin.

MyFord Touch and SYNC AppLink were finalists in the Transportation – In-Car Driving Aids category. MyKey was a finalist in the Transportation – Remote Driving Aids category. The rear inflatable seat belt system was a finalist in Applied Technology.

Mulally honored
In addition to recognizing Ford technologies with multiple Best New Product Awards, the Edison program also presented Ford CEO Alan Mulally with the prestigious Edison Achievement Award for his significant and lasting contributions to innovation throughout his career.

Mulally joins an esteemed group of colleagues from leading organizations such as design firm IDEO, research epicenter MIT and Genentech, an industry leader in biotechnology.

For more information about the 2011 Edison Awards, please visit www.edisonawards.com.

More information on Ford’s winning technologies can be found at: