Ford Motor Company Expands Collaboration with INRIX on Traffic and Routing

2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) -- INRIX®, a leading provider of traffic and navigation services, announced at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) it will provide Ford Motor Company with real-time traffic information and enhanced routing for all Ford vehicles with SYNC. These capabilities enhance the consumer experience with the award-winning Ford SYNC with Traffic, Directions and Information (TDI) and extends the time-saving benefits of INRIX traffic services to include the automaker's other next-generation navigation systems.

In a CES keynote presentation this morning, Ford announced the company will become the first automaker to utilize INRIX's real-time traffic information for 260,000 miles of roadways including 100,000 miles of arterials, city streets and secondary roads to route drivers around traffic congestion and speed them to their destination. As Ford builds on the successful foundation of SYNC with the introduction of MyFord Touch driver connect technology, INRIX's traffic information continues to drive routing as part of the new system's Traffic Directions & Information navigation services.

"Our traffic-influenced routing with arterials delivers a massive breakthrough that offers Ford customers new time saving options for getting to the important places and events in their lives," said Bryan Mistele, president and CEO, INRIX. "As consumers increasingly demand navigation systems that help them avoid traffic congestion, important advancements like real-time traffic-influenced routing with arterials help companies like Ford meet the growing needs of their customers worldwide."

According to a recently published J.D. Power & Associates study, 80 percent of consumers desire navigation systems that offer real-time traffic information and the inclusion of real-time traffic information significantly boosts customer satisfaction with their in-car navigation system. In the survey's rankings of in-car navigations systems by manufacturers based on customer satisfaction, navigation systems offered by Ford Motor Company collected five of the top 10 spots, including first and second place.

The new MyFord Touch driver connect technology announced today at the 2010 International CES is designed to be powerful yet intuitive for drivers, blending strengths of the most proven interfaces in consumer electronics - including MP3 players and mobile phones - with a new generation of Ford's award-winning SYNC( )system. MyFord, which will be branded as MyLincoln Touch and MyMercury Touch on respective Lincoln and Mercury brand products, redesigns the in-car interface, mirroring how consumers interact with most devices in their lives using touch-sensitive buttons, touch screens, thumb-wheel controls and voice recognition.

INRIX's expanded role in Ford Motor Company navigation systems builds upon announcements made at the 2009 CES where Ford and INRIX announced Ford SYNC with Traffic, Directions and Information including personalized voice-enabled traffic reports, traffic-influenced turn-by-turn directions and route alerts.

About INRIX

INRIX® is a leading provider of highly accurate traffic services, with more than 90 customers and industry partners including the Ford Motor Company, TomTom, MapQuest, Microsoft, NAVIGON AG, TeleNav, I-95 Corridor Coalition, Tele Atlas, deCarta, ITIS Holdings, TCS, Telmap, ANWB and ADAC. INRIX's strategic partnership with Clear Channel Radio and Total Traffic Network extends the delivery of the highest quality data and broadest coverage available for personal navigation, mapping, telematics and other location-based service applications in the car, online and on mobile devices.

INRIX Traffic Services leverage sophisticated statistical analysis techniques, originally developed by Microsoft Research, to aggregate and enhance traffic-related information from hundreds of public and private sources, including traditional road sensors and the company's unique network of more than 1.5 million GPS-enabled vehicles and cellular devices. INRIX delivers real-time and historical traffic information today for 16 countries across North America and Europe.