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The spy shots above and below (at right) show a number of minor changes to the prototype Flex Flex model since we first saw it at the New York auto show last month. We’ll get to all of them in a minute, but our first impression upon seeing the Flex hit the road? It looks [...]
Following on the heels of General Motors selling its Mesa, Arizona Desert Proving Ground, Ford has decided to look at doing the same with its own Arizona facility. The Arizona Proving Ground located near Lake Havasu is a 3,700 acre facility that employs 200 permanent staff in addition to Ford engineeers who come in to [...]
Autocar says BMW seriously considered taking Volvo off of Ford’s hands earlier this year, going so far as to request financial data about the company, which is surprising on several levels. First, does this mean Volvo is for sale? Bill Ford has said nothing in Ford’s Premium Auto Group is sacred, but Volvo seems to [...]
We’ve begged for Ford to begin selling some of its perceived-to-be excellent international wares in the U.S. and today we’ve learned our wait is over. Motor Trend is reporting that the next generation Ford Fiesta will be sold in the U.S. by late 2008, about a year after it’s introduced in Europe. The new Ford [...]
It looks like the dual-clutch preselector transmission is emerging as the leader in automated manuals. Volkswagen’s DSG has been around a while and offers fewer compromises than less purpose-built manuals. Ford’s champing at the bit to get their own trick DSG-like transmission into production, and it looks like we’ll see such a unit drop soon [...]
Lightning has struck again, the Ford Shelby GT-H “Rent-A-Racer” program from Ford Motor Company, Shelby Automobiles and The Hertz Corporation has returned with a special run of convertible versions of the performance-modified Ford Mustang GTs for rent exclusively through Hertz.
Ford Motor Company of Australia has confirmed its support of a long-term research project by the University of Melbourne to study efficient and practical hydrogen fuelled vehicle technologies.
Perhaps taking a note from DaimlerChrysler’s playbook, Ford will reportedly be importing a version of the Ford Transit Connect commercial vehicle to be sold in the United States. DaimlerChrysler began selling the Sprinter commercial van in the U.S. around 2004, and has enjoyed success selling it to large corporations that need workhorse fleet vehicles with [...]
Thank God it’s over. Goodbye Freestar, you won’t be missed. Ford has turned out its last head-gasket-consuming, transmission-torturing, flaccid minivan. It was a good try twelve years ago when it debuted as the Windstar, but time has not been kind to Ford’s efforts. Moreover, Ford was not kind to the Freestar, letting it die on [...]
An anonymous tipper has just informed us that Hertz will be auctioning off a large batch of its very exclusive rental car, the Shelby Mustang GT-H, to Ford dealers from Thursday, December 7th through December 21st. If we understand our source correctly, six auctions will occur around the country beginning in Manheim, PA, then moving [...]
In the week of the release of the most recent James Bond movie Casino Royale, there are reports that Ford sent information to potential buyers regarding the well being of Aston Martin. It stated that Aston is on track to sell 7,000 cars this year and will generate sales of £479m (US $912m) and a [...]
Crystal ball time. Ford CFO Don Leclair has reiterated that the North American automotive operations will be profitable in 2009, even if only slightly. In Ford’s announcement today, Leclair showed a chart that one analyst said displayed a “thin sliver of profits.” Peter Nesvold of Bear Stearns estimated the 2009 profit from the chart at [...]