Ford has announced its new-generation Sync 3 infotainment system will debut on the 2016 Ford Fiesta, 2016 Ford Escape and 2016 Ford Transit in the US.
The new Ford Sync 3 system is a complete overhaul of the systems that have gone before it. Superficially, Sync 3 features a altered colour palette, with larger and more clearly defined buttons.
Along with a new menu motif that runs along the bottom of the screen there’s also a home screen that links straight to the navigation, audio and phone functions. Ford claims that the new system is faster and more smartphone-like, with features like swiping, pinch-to-zoom and a unified one-box search function. The company has refined the voice control system with more natural speech recognition, so drivers can say “twelve sixty-two Kent St” instead of “one two six two Kent St”.
Ford has high hopes for its standalone system, at a time where many brands are looking to move towards generic operating systems such as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay (iOS). The company claims Sync 3 is better for driving than both of those systems, too.
While we’ve previously reported the technology could roll out in Australia in 2016 in the new Mustang, Ford Australia has now suggested that the Sync 3 system will be offered in 2017, although there’s no word yet on which nameplates will see the system first.
That said, with a lot of these types of technologies, it is likely to be rolled out gradually over several years. Expect it in theKuga (which is what the Escape is called here) as well as the Mustang and others
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