DEARBORN -- Ford knows that its customers have a lot of ideas for new products and technologies that they would like to see on future vehicles.  To tap into this expansive resource, a new "Your Ideas" exchange portal is being launched on The Ford Story (www.TheFordStory.com).  The Your Ideas site welcomes consumers to submit, share, review and rate each other’s automotive feature innovations.

The pilot session of Your Ideas gives consumers the ability to participate in a community-based setting where they can review and rate posted ideas and track what people think about their own suggestions. Ideas that receive the most “thumbs ups” from viewers will be elevated to a most-popular idea list and reviewed by Ford’s Advanced Product Planning and Marketing teams.

This community-based setting gives consumers a great opportunity to refine their ideas from the comments that others make.  A link also is provided to enable a consumer to submit a refined idea or other innovative solution for technical feedback from Ford.  Click here to learn more about "Your Ideas."

While the Your Ideas Web site on TheFordStory.com is for external audiences, employees, should continue using the internal-only Idea Place Web site for a more direct outlet to submit new product or technology ideas for review.

The announcement of the new idea exchange portal and Ford’s increased effort to directly engage customers comes on the coattails of the 2010 SAE World Congress in Detroit, appropriately themed “Ecollaboration.” 

Click here for @Ford's complete coverage of the 2010 SAE World.