Ford will pull tech training bucks

Editor's note: In an earlier version of this story, the name of Ed Jolliffe, owner of Gorno Ford in Woodhaven, Mich., was misspelled.

DETROIT -- The Ford brand is phasing out the technology allowance it pays dealers to teach customers to use Sync and MyFord Touch, the communication systems that have triggered widespread owner complaints and eroded quality ratings.

The allowance, which a company spokeswoman said was meant to be temporary, will disappear in two phases:

1. Ford pays dealers $50 per vehicle equipped with its Sync voice recognition system. That money will go away at the end of this year.

2. Ford pays dealers $75 per vehicle equipped with the MyFord Touch touchscreen interface that complements Sync. That allowance will be eliminated for 2015 models.

What, if anything, will replace the allowance is not clear. Ford said it will share future plans with dealers. The Lincoln brand is not affected.

But with Ford still getting complaints from consumers about the systems, some dealers feel that it's too early to drop the allowance. Many dealers have used the money to hire technology experts who spend all their time tutoring customers after sales.

Jim Seavitt, owner of Village Ford in Dearborn, Mich., hired such a specialist, who, he said, is busy constantly. Seavitt does not want to see the allowance end.

"That pays his salary," he said.

Despite Ford's modifications, the MyFord Touch system glitches haven't abated and customers continue to stream into his showroom with questions and problems, Seavitt said. Village Ford even attracts customers from other dealerships that don't have such a specialist.

Seavitt estimates that he receives about $7,500 a month in allowance money, or about $90,000 a year. He would not say how much the specialist is paid.

"And there's more technology to come," Seavitt said. "Eventually, we'll have modems in cars. My thinking is the same as other dealers. I would say the timing is not correct."

Ford spokeswoman Elizabeth Weigandt said Ford created the Technology Delivery Allowance in 2011 as "a temporary resource" to help dealers assist customers with new technology.

"We will share our future plans for this program directly with dealers," she said. "Ford remains committed to providing valuable dealer-focused programs, such as training, digital customer tools and our In-Vehicle Technology Call Center."

Rich Savino, owner of All American Ford of Old Bridge in northern New Jersey, predicted that Ford won't just dump the incentive without finding a way to replace it.

"What I'm very encouraged about is we're going to explore other avenues for Ford to continue to support the dealers," said Savino, a member of the Ford National Dealer Council. "It's evolving, not going away."

He said Ford is looking for the best way to help customers.

"You have the geeks in the Apple store who have nothing to do with the sales but just help customers," Savino said. "That's what we're trying to mold at Ford."

Savino has used the allowance to hire four people he refers to as the "Sync Kids."

"The people love being able to sit with them. They'll load up their phones, customize them, put their grandchild's picture on the screen, teach them to use the navigation."

Ed Jolliffe, owner of Gorno Ford in Woodhaven, Mich., said he understands why Ford might want to end the subsidy.

But he said customers are still coming into the store needing help sorting out problems and getting questions answered.

"We have an individual, and that's all their job is. We've used that money to pay that individual," Jolliffe said. "That individual's job is to show customers everything. If that goes away, that position may go away."

Having one individual responsible for the tutoring sessions means the presentation is consistent, Jolliffe said. "That way we don't get 20 different ways of doing it. We get the right way."

And, he said, consumers still have problems with Sync and MyFord Touch: "They've had so many problems. They still need to be talked through it. No one's really had a product they can use in the last year and a half, two years, that they can trust to work right."

While some luxury brands, such as BMW and Lexus, offer dealers assistance in tutoring customers about in-car technology, Ford has been the only volume brand to offer such widespread assistance.

Since Ford CEO Alan Mulally introduced the MyFord Touch system at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Ford has aimed to distinguish itself as a technology innovator.

But the company has paid a price for being an early mover. Ford began paying the subsidy to dealers in 2011 after complaints began mounting about the MyFord Touch system, which first appeared on the 2011 Edge crossover.

The Ford brand plunged from fifth place in the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Initial Quality Study to 23rd in the 2011 study and 27th in both 2012 and 2013. Consumer Reports wrote in a 2012 blog that it "wouldn't recommend dealing with the frustrations of MyFord Touch on a daily basis even to an adversary."

Some owners' complaints had to do with glitches that Ford has addressed with a series of software modifications that improved performance, simplified commands and made screens easier to read. Ford also has said it will bring back more buttons and knobs in future vehicles.

Chaz Gilmore, general manager of Grapevine Ford-Lincoln in Grapevine, Texas, said the MyFord Touch system offers customers more functions than rival systems, giving Ford a real selling point.

"It's one of the most complex interfaces in the industry," said Gilmore of the MyFord Touch system. "It's a nice luxury we were able to afford to give customers to help them experience the systems.

"It's part of Ford's future. We have to spend resources to be known as a great technology company. We're not going to be a great technology company if our customers don't know how to use the products."

Nick Bunkley contributed to this report.