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Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally

By BRYAN LAVIOLETTE

DEARBORN – For the second year in a row, Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Ford, will deliver a major speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, which sponsors CES, told a group of reporters at a luncheon Monday that while some may view the automaker as a “Rust Belt” company, he sees the opposite.

“Alan Mulally has positioned Ford as a leading innovator in the automotive industry,” Shapiro said.

Ford’s Sync voice-recognition system has become one of the must-have features for many car buyers. Sync allows users to control their cellphones and mp3 players with their voice and on some of Ford’s vehicles, the system allows users to do everything from change the cabin temperature to check the weather without taking their hands off the wheel.

The company also is using the Sync platform, which it developed with the help of Microsoft to launch other technology products such as Ford Work Solutions, which is the latest development of the mobile vehicle office.

CES, scheduled for Jan. 7-10, is the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow, where about 20,000 new products are debuted by 2,500 exhibitors each year.

“Mulally will reveal Ford’s latest innovations and announce new technology developments related to Ford’s popular, voice-activated SYNC technology,” the automaker said in a release.