Ford Motor Company honors Johnson Controls for its co-development of the innovative Ford Grand C-MAX second row seat
Henry Ford Technology Award presented for highly variable seating concept
The seating concept jointly designed by Johnson Controls for the Ford Grand C-MAX provides exciting new, user-friendly features. As the second row center seat folds down and can be stowed away completely in one of the outer seats, Ford Grand C-MAX users can access the third row seats without difficulty, even when the outer easy entry seats are occupied with child seats. Considered unique amongst the competition, this concept was honored by the Ford Motor Company with the prestigious Henry Ford Technology Award.
“The Henry Ford Technology Award is the highest commendation of the Ford Motor Company awarded to engineers and scientists from manufacturing, product design and research & advanced design of the company as well as its suppliers," stated Dr. Gerhard Schmidt, Vice President Research & Advanced Engineering Ford Motor Company, on Wednesday evening as part of the festivities at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Cologne. “Through their superb achievements, all of the prize-winners honored here have furthered technical designs in order to make our products even more environmentally-friendly, even safer and of even greater quality for our customers.”
Dr. Schmidt presented the award for the unique Ford Grand C-MAX seating system to the relevant design team, comprised of four engineers from Ford of Europe, as well as Miles Lindley, Engineering Manager, Ford Customer Group at Johnson Controls.
Lindley accepted the award on behalf of all Johnson Controls employees who had been involved in the design, implementation and production of the seating system.
“We are proud to receive this highly coveted award from the Ford Motor Company, said Lindley “It validates our belief that we have designed and developed a product that will provide additional benefits to owners of the new Ford Grand C-MAX.”
With the Henry Ford Technology Award, the Ford Motor Company honors its own employees and suppliers who have designed a particularly innovative product or system. The prize was first awarded in 1981.