I looked at the all-new 2006 Volvo C70 coupe/retractable hardtop this weekend. It really is a nice looking car styled by Pininfarina for Volvo. Sure, I saw it at the LA Auto Show, but it's really here and for sale in Southern California. Of course, supply is so short that I'm told the waiting list for one currently extends into August. So if you really want one, you may want to wait until the 2007 models are available this fall. Read on.

Volvo has been a solid performer for Ford since former disgraced Chairman Jacques Nasser purchased Volvo's passenger car business. I've written here before how difficult it was for me to find a fully-loaded V50 (small wagon) T5 with AWD with all options. Galpin Volvo, one of LA's largest volume Volvo dealers, tried for two months to find one for me to look at and drive. It never happened. Even if you searched inventories today, you'd be very hard-pressed to find one.

But what got me thinking about technology in cars was looking at the sticker of the C70 and realizing what was missing. The car I saw was fully-loaded except for DVD navigation. It was over $46k! The navigation system adds another $2,000. And that is before the usual dealer markup for scarce vehicles in demand. So expect to pay at least $50,000 to get your hands on a C70 in time for summer driving. But what was missing from this package?

Volvo considers automatic headlights as a standard safety feature. Rain sensing wipers, however, are part of an option package. How about Bluetooth technology so you can talk on your phone hands free while you're in the car? I think that should be a safety item too. But no, it's not available from the factory but the dealer is ready to install a Bluetooth communications kit. Bluetooth will be available from the factory in 2007.

Volvo uses a plastic key similar to the ones used by Mercedes and BMW. It's not a Smart Key. Smart Keys will be available as an option on all 2007 models. If you want satellite radio, you can get a factory installation in 2007 (Sirius) but for 2006, the best you can get is the satellite prep package and then a dealer-installed unit.

Rear parking sensors are optional -- but don't even think about asking for front sensors as they aren't even available. And while Volvo has an AWD system for the C70's platform (Ford's global C1 chassis), AWD isn't an option either.

This got me back to the $25,000 Mazda3 5-door. This is my pick for best compact car. It's also Alan's pick. The Mazda3 also rides on Ford's C1 platform, yet the only features this little car doesn't have are: Bluetooth, power seats and AWD.

I helped a friend pick a new car last week. I thought about the Mazda5 as a good sedan riding on an excellent platform also used globally by the Ford Motor Group. However, you can't get a Mazda5 with navigation, automatic headlights or rain sensing wipers. And only the MazdaSpeed version comes with AWD.

But you can buy a Lincoln Zephyr with navigation and automatic headlights, but not a hint of a rain sensor or Bluetooth at $35,000 for a fully-loaded top model. The stand-alone navigation system sells for $2,500 -- a whopping $500 more than Volvo and Mazda. All wheel drive and a better engine is coming to the Zephry, to be renamed the MKZ for 2007, so maybe if you really had to have this car, you should wait until 2007 models come out this fall.

The Ford Fusion, cousin to the Zephyr and the Mazda5, gets nothing -- not even navigation -- much like the Mazda5. But shouldn't the Mazda5 have at least the same features you can get on the Mazda3? You can get navigation, rain sensing wipers, automatic bi-Xenon headlights and digital climate control on a Mazda3 -- but not the Mazda5 or Ford Fusion. I'm confused.

Ford's "premium sedan", the Five Hundred, does have an option for navigation. However, there isn't a hint of Xenon headlights, automatic headlights, rain-sensing wipers, Bluetooth or a satellite radio.

Mazda offers Sirius satellite radio as a factory option on all its cars, Volvo still only offers the prep package and Ford doesn't begin to offer anything from the factory until 2007 models arrive this fall.

So how about the Smart Key system? You can get it on a Mazda RX8, the MX5 (formerly the Miata) but not the Mazda CX7 SUV or Ford Edge (both based on the Mazda5 platform). The 2007 Jaguar XK gets a Smart Key system even though Mazda has had it starting in 2005 with 2006 models. The 2006 Jaguars don't even offer a Smart Key. Oh yes, Land Rover offers a Smart Key system on its 2006 models.

Jaguar uses rain sensing wipers and automatic headlights on most of its models either as standard features or part of option packages. The 2006 Jag XJ even offers Bluetooth connectivity integrated with its sound system.

Then there is Land Rover. Its 2006 models have every bell and whistle in the arsenal, including integrated Bluetooth telematics, rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlights, satellite radio, Smart Key, ultra-sophisticated DVD-based on/off road navigation, heated steering wheel (a real treat -- trust me), bi-Xenon self-leveling lighting system, etc.

Ford owns or controls the following car companies: Ford, Lincoln Mercury, Mazda, Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin. In this diverse group, Ford has some excellent platforms, engines, transmissions and technology in use. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem any master plan to use the electrical and mechanical technology on a global basis.

The VW group is a prime example of how platforms, drivetrains and technology is shared across the VW empire:

Volkswagen AG owns or controls the following car companies: Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Skoda, SEAT, Lamborghini and Bugatti. Group technology is shared throughout all brands, mostly in places the consumer will never see. Sometimes, it's things as simple as an antenna, a solenoid, a sunroof switch, HomeLink interface or light/rain sensors. It can also include sophisticated engine technology like direct gas fuel injection, twin-charger technology, W-12 cylinder engines, DSG dual-clutch transmissions and clean diesel devices.

If VW can share technology, platforms, drivetrains and even switchgear throughout its vast empire without significant dilution of a brand, then Ford should be able to do the same. It would make sense to license something like Bluetooth for the entire Ford Empire and then insist that the suppliers integrate the technology into the sound systems. It really should be an option on all Fords, same as with satellite radio. Last year, Ford signed an exclusive contract to carry Sirius in all bands. That's a good start, now I hope the equipment roll out doesn't take several years.

Then there are the more complex systems like all wheel drive and the six-speed transmissions that can be configured to connect various engines and front/rear or AWD configurations. The C1 platform used first as the European Ford Focus, the Mazda3 and Volvo's S40 can accommodate AWD technology. Volvo already uses AWD for its V50 wagon (if you can find one in LA) and its upcoming XC50. Land Rover will be using Volvo's technology in its upcoming LR2, the replacement for the Freelander, which is based on Volvo's XC50. We are told that AWD is the way of the future in the automotive industry. Ford offers an AWD version of its Five Hundred and the upcoming Edge crossover -- a Ford version of the new Mazda CX7.

If Ford wanted to spread the costs of AWD technology, it could easily bring more AWD cars to market. We've already heard that the AWD Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sell very well in snow areas of the country. Much of this is marketing. You can sell AWD to just about anyone, no matter how much they don't need it. Just ask Audi and the success of its signature Quattro AWD system. Lincoln is going to offer an AWD MKZ, but there are no plans to offer it as an option in the Mercury Milan, Ford Fusion, or Mazda5.

Ford has made a bid deal in its recent commercials that it is using Volvo to bring safety technology to all Ford products. There are some things are just so simple and very inexpensive, but missing. You can sell automatic headlights and rain-sensing wipers as safety devices. Both allow the driver to concentrate on driving rather than turning lights on and off or switching wipers on/off. These are not new, expensive cutting-edge technologies, but if you offer it to consumers as part of a cold weather or safety package, I bet people will pay extra for it. Or it could just be used as marketing fodder to tout the better features of the brand.

Safety also includes air bags, air curtains, electronic stability programs, anti-lock brakes with brake assist, rollover protection, etc. Volvo is definitely a leader in this technology. Ford's domestic products, however, make you pay extra for various airbag protection areas as well as some things that should be standard like anti-lock brakes and electronic stability programs. Honda has made all safety devices standard on all its new cars. Mazda provides standard safety on almost all of its models too. If Ford wants to be a leader in safety (something that is very marketable), then it should consider making all safety devices standard on its domestic lineup.

I have another question for Ford. Why doesn't the Mustang's expensive, ear-piercing sound package come with an aux plug for the target customer to plug in his/her iPod? This is a no-brainer that should NOT have been missed by the product planners. You get one as standard on a Range Rover Sport, but this little feature would cost very little to incorporate into even the most simple sound system. You can go to Al & Ed's and have them put one in your car for about $150. Almost that entire price is for labor a drill and a splice of wire. The cost of an aux jack at Radio Shack is about $2.

I'm all for distinctive brands; however, behind the dash and under the sheet metal is a dizzying array of electronics, engines, transmissions, and drive technology that should be spread as efficiently and as much as possible to reduce overall costs for design and manufacturing. I would still like to know the real answer why Ford doesn't have its European Focus here in showrooms today. Is the Detroit Bubble so filled with smoke that Ford really doesn't think this car could be sold profitably in the US? If Mazda and Volvo can use the platform here in the US profitably then FoMoCo should be able to do it as well.

I think the task of global coordination and platform/technology sharing is a daunting task that seems too big for one person to handle at Ford. The pieces of the puzzle are all on the table, and Ford needs someone to pick them up and make order out of chaos. Ford needs this to happen sooner than later as Ford desperately needs to have better and more distinctive products available in the US to pull it out of its tailspin towards bankruptcy. I'm still rooting for Bill Ford to rescue the family empire.