FORD NAMED ‘MOST INNOVATIVE VOLUME BRAND 2023’ AT AUTOMOTIVE- INNOVATIONS AWARDS

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11/08/2023

• Ford has been recognised at the annual AutomotiveINNOVATIONS awards, winning ‘Most Innovative Volume Brand’ for first time since 2014
• Ford wins two of the four categories for volume brands on way to overall accolade; including ‘Autonomous Driving & ADAS’ and ‘Connected Car Services’
• BlueCruise, available on the Mustang Mach-E, was cited as a particular example of innovation in autonomous driving and advance driver assistance systems

COLOGNE, Germany, July 13, 2023 – Ford has been named the ‘Most Innovative Volume Brand 2023’ at the annual AutomotiveINNOVATIONS awards, scooping top honours in the categories for ‘Autonomous Driving & ADAS’ and ‘Connected Car Services’ for volume brands in the process.

The Centre of Automotive Management and PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH based in Germany named Ford the category winner after considering innovations from 29 global automotive groups representing more than 80 brands. In total, 1,088 innovations were considered during the judging process for the 2023 awards. Ford received an overall score of 91.2 points, ahead of second-placed VW (82.0 points) and third-placed Toyota (64.6 points).

The introduction of Ford’s Level 2 hands-free advanced driver assistance system, BlueCruise1 – available in the Mustang Mach-E, with regulatory approval for use on the motorway network in Great Britain since April – helped Ford to win the ‘Autonomous Driving & ADAS’ category on the way to the overall award. The F-150’s Pro Trailer Hitch Assist was also cited for special mention.

SYNC 4’s2 cloud-based navigation on the Ford Focus was a highlighted innovation that put Ford at the top of the ‘Connected Car Services’ category, while the company also indexed well in the remaining two categories, taking second place in both ‘Electric Drive’ and ‘Interface and Connectivity’.

“Throughout our 120 years history we’ve consistently innovated, producing vehicles and technologies with customers’ needs at the forefront of our minds,” said Silke Seitz, director, Digital Products Europe, who collected the award for Ford. “The automotive industry today is changing at a rate never before seen, so to be recognised for our innovation at this time is a proud moment and testament to the agility, ability and continuing ambition of the company.”

The Centre of Automotive Management is an independent institute for automotive and mobility research and strategic consulting at the University of Applied Sciences, Bergisch Gladbach, in Germany. The AutomotiveINNOVATIONS awards recognise automotive engineering innovation with a judging panel led by centre director Prof. Dr.Stefan Bratzel, in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers AG.

“For the first time since 2014, Ford is once again the most innovative volume brand,” said Bratzel. “A high balance of innovative strengths in the most important technology fields was one of the success factors.”

The awards were presented during an event on July 13th, 2023 in Frankfurt am Main, with the organisation celebrating 11 years of recognising innovation in the automotive industry.

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¹ Ford BlueCruise is a hands-free highway driving feature. Only remove hands from the steering wheel when in a Hands-Free Blue Zone. Always watch the road and be prepared to resume control of the vehicle. It does not replace safe driving. See Owner's Manual for details and limitations. [The BlueCruise Prep Kit contains the hardware required for this feature.] Requires purchased BlueCruise subscription to cover data usage, regular map updates and feature improvements. To use BlueCruise you will need to activate your Mustang Mach-E using the FordPass App.

² Don’t drive while distracted or while using handheld devices. Use voice-operated systems when possible. Some features may be locked out while the vehicle is in gear. Not all features are compatible with all phones.

The declared WLTP fuel/energy consumptions, CO2-emissions and electric range are determined according to the technical requirements and specifications of the European Regulations (EC) 715/2007 and (EU) 2017/1151 as last amended. The applied standard test procedures enable comparison between different vehicle types and different manufacturers.