DEARBORN, Mich. – The award-winning Ford SYNC® AppLink™ software program is migrating to a new group of 2012 Ford vehicles, giving more vehicle owners the opportunity to enjoy intuitive voice control of and access to their smartphone apps on the go.

The 2012 Ford Fusion, Fusion Hybrid, Fiesta, F-150, F-150 SVT Raptor, Super Duty, Expedition, E-Series and Shelby GT500 join the previously announced 2012 Ford Mustang as AppLink-equipped vehicles.

Plus, more mobile innovations are on the way, with additional Ford jobs planned for the company’s Connected Services Solutions Organization – and 2,500 independent developers already signaling they are interested in creating more apps for Ford through the company’s dedicated SYNC developer website (www.syncmyride.com/developer).

“We understand more and more drivers are using their devices and their apps while in the car,” said Doug VanDagens, director of Ford Connected Services Solutions. “Ford is a part of the solution, offering voice-activated options such as Ford SYNC with AppLink on a broader range of our products, which gives more customers a smarter way to access their apps while driving that keeps their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.”

The recently released J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Automotive Emerging Technologies Study reports 86 percent of smartphone owners indicate they use their device while in their vehicles. A Nationwide Mutual Insurance 2010 study indicates more than one in four Americans who download smartphone apps admit to using those apps while driving.

Great expectations

Adding AppLink as a factory-installed, standard feature of SYNC on a wider range of vehicles, including F-Series, America’s best-selling vehicle for 29 years, puts Ford further out front in the race to integrate smartphone apps into the car, a feature vehicle owners are increasingly demanding.

Ford has great expectations for AppLink as it migrates to more products and more customers, especially Fusion and F-150 owners, already avid buyers of the SYNC system. Currently, more than 84 percent of 2011 Fusions sold are equipped with SYNC, with F-150 coming in at more than 76 percent for the optional in-car connectivity system.

VanDagens adds that the Ford Connected Services Solutions Organization, responsible for developing the company’s in-car connectivity services, is also on its own accelerated growth plan to stay in step with – if not a step ahead of – how the car connects with the latest and greatest in the mobile electronics industry.

During the next four years, the global Connected Services team will grow fourfold, with a threefold jump planned for U.S. operations alone.

“Ford is committed to building systems for the vehicle environment that leverage innovation and infrastructure and are robust to the changing consumer electronics technology landscape,” said VanDagens. “To do that safely, seamlessly and securely, we have to have dedicated people on our team who eat, sleep and breathe consumer electronics rarified air – technical experts who not only understand current technology but have a sense for where it is headed.”