Ford Fiesta Looks to the iPhone 4 Launch

Ford Motor Co. is once again drawing inspiration from Apple in the hopes of making its own product introductions as exciting as the launch of the iPhone 4.

The auto maker designed its in-car infotainment system, which is powered through a cell phone and loaded with applications, to replicate the Apple smart phone experience. But this time Ford executives handed out memory sticks loaded with instructions for owners of all new Fiesta subcompacts. The offering is designed to enhance the experience new owners have when they pick up the keys and drive off the lot. Ford acknowledges that customers often get their cars and trucks home and wish they had an easier way to learn about the features of their new purchase.

“Apple really knows how to do it. You take out the computer and the packing is done right. You feel like you’ve bought something really special,” Paul Anderson, the Fiesta’s launch manager, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week.

The device is inserted into the Fiesta’s USB port. Then car’s stereo plays a 19 minute introduction to the car and its features. The style is sassy and knowing, trying to build on the idea that new owners have joined a community of like-minded and in-the-know young customers.