Today, Ford CEO Alan Mulally is announcing at the CES trade show that all cars offered with SYNC will have turn-by turn navigation. In addition to that, this application will be enhanced by My Ford Touch, a 8-inch screen displaying maps that will be available in selected Ford Model.

First introduced at CES 2007, Ford SYNC is an easy-to-use, hands-free system that connects mobile phones and media devices to the vehicle. At CES 2009 the solution was further enhanced with vehicle diagnostics, emergency services assist, voice-activated access to turn-by-turn directions, real-time traffic, and on-demand news, weather and sports updates. All these live services are provided by a connection to the Bluetooth phone of the user, piggybacking on its voice plan, data being sent through the voice channel.

In 2010, the automaker forecasts that more than 80% of the vehicles it sells in North America will be equipped with the system, according to Doug VanDagens, director of Connected Services at Ford, who spoke recently to GPS Business News (read full story here).

This year the introduction of “MyFord Touch driver connect technology” provides a simpler interface allowing customers to interact with the system through a new touch screen. The 8-inch touch screen greatly facilitates the interaction with the turn-by-turn navigation system, in addition it provides generic information about the road followed. The screen will debut first as standard equipment on the Lincoln MKX and Ford Edge crossovers this year.

In addition to this screen, a SD card slot will offer an upgrade to a full map-based navigation system. The SD card will contain the map database and voice data, 3D landmarks and points-of-interest (POIs) from Tele Atlas and enhanced POI information from Wcities. The SD card navigation system provides uninterrupted access to navigation information, even if cell phone coverage is limited. The price of this option has not yet been announced. TeleNav is the company beyond the navigation with the help of INRIX for the real-time traffic feed which coverage has bee improved for the United States (read story here).

Ford is also rolling out SYNC outside of the North American market. It has to be seen how this solution will be received abroad, but surely having a map-based navigation system will help for the European market. Indeed, Fiat, after launching a similar turn-by-turn voice command system, is now partnering with TomTom to offer what European customers are used to: moving maps.