Documents in a class-action lawsuit filed in 2013 show the mounting frustration Ford Motor Co. executives and engineers had in dealing with the development of the MyFord Touch infotainment system.
DETROIT - Documents in a class-action lawsuit filed in 2013 show the mounting frustration Ford Motor Co. executives and engineers had in dealing with the development of the MyFord Touch infotainment system.
The internal email exchanges in the consolidated lawsuit's documents were first reported by Forbes on Thursday.
They show that Ford Chairman Bill Ford had to pull over to the side of the road in an unfamiliar area when his navigation screen stopped working. One mechanic alluded that Mark Fields, then president of the Americas and company CEO, cracked the infotainment screen on the center stack because he was so frustrated with the system.
And engineers working to improve the system called one update a "polished turd" and "lipstick on a pig."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern California, claims the system "suffers from a material design defect that prevents it from working properly." It says Ford failed to disclose this defect to customers.
The lawsuit includes customers in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington who bought vehicles with the system.
Complaints from customers began rolling in on the 2011 model-year vehicles, on which the system was introduced, and said the screen would lock up, the audio would switch randomly from an iPod to Sirius radio and voice recognition software failing to recognize commands.
Ford began issuing technical service bulletins as problems mounted, and in 2011 one such bulletin noted glitches including blank screens, missing presets, lack of voice recognition, incorrect dialing of phone numbers and display problems with the backup camera. The automaker also began covering the affected vehicels with four- and five-year warranties.
In court documents, Ford said the plaintiffs' attorneys are exaggerating, and said it has worked to fix issues with the system. The Dearborn automaker sought to dismiss the lawsuit in 2014, but lost that motion, and a trial is set for next April.
Asked about the case Friday, the company sent MLive this statement:
"We don't comment on pending litigation; however, this is an interim order and not a merits ruling."
Ford replaced the MyFord Touch system with Sync 3 for 2016 model year vehicles.