For a car that has relied largely
on brawn to propel sales all these decades, the Ford Mustang has
suddenly become brainier. A lot brainier.
Ford bills its American icon, shown at Asia's biggest tech fair on
Tuesday, as "the smartest Mustang to date", with voice controls and
early warning collision systems.
Due to go on sale in the Asia-Pacific region next year, the slick
sports car can connect to drivers' mobile apps using a platform which
will be introduced to Taiwan, New Zealand and Thailand next year for
the first time, the company announced at the Computex conference in
Taipei.
Ford already introduced the AppLink technology - which allows
drivers to make their mobile apps respond to voice commands - in China,
Australia and India earlier this year.
Celebrating 50 years of production, the original Mustang was
launched at an event on top of the Empire State Building in 1964 and
quickly became a byword for cool among America's youth, who loved the
highly customisable "pony car" that stood out next to their parents'
bulky sedans.
But the latest edition may put the reins on rebellious teens, with a
feature which allows parents to limit top speeds and audio volume.
Despite this sensible streak, Mr Trevor Worthington, vice- president of
product development in Asia Pacific, said the classic car continued to
"resonate" with drivers.
"This enhances every aspect of driving, whether you're listening to
music, changing the radio station, optimising your car for track
driving or adjusting it for different road conditions," he said of the
new model which has an aviation- inspired dashboard and comes with a
choice of two different engines.
Smart technology and the Internet of Things - a term used to
describe the connection of everything from cars to household appliances
to cyberspace - is a major theme of Computex this year.
The Mustang adjusts the car's speed automatically to keep a safe
distance from vehicles in front and can boost brakes if it anticipates
a collision. Drivers can also set modes to normal, snow-wet, sport or
track.
Ford displayed the new Mustang at the Beijing Auto Show in April in
a bid to break into China's sports car market. Tuesday was the first
time it had been put on show in Taiwan.
In addition to the Mustang, Ford will demonstrate new
vehicle-to-vehicle technology at Computex, which it says will allow
cars to share information and potentially prevent accidents.
