Ford News
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It's become a staple tactic of automotive PR operations: Trickle out one factoid at a time, well in advance of an actual vehicle, and get stories each time. So here's the news: The Ford Transit commercial van to be launched next year will have a diesel engine option. That was the sum total of the news: The vehicle will have an "all-new North American diesel engine option." No size, no power, no torque rating, not even number of cylinders. There will be a diesel. Now you know. And a V-6, and higher MPG The announcement followed, by precisely two weeks, one giving the news that the same vehicle...
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Ford Offers Fleet Buyers Tool To Compare Total Emissions & CostsFleet managers are very, very rational people. Unlike many retail car buyers, they analyze vehicles without a shred of emotion, basing their decisions on lifetime ownership costs for vehicles that meet their needs. More and more, though, those fleet buyers are being asked to help reduce their...
John Voelcker -
Ford Transit Van With EcoBoost V-6 To Replace Aged E-SeriesFord has been dropping hints since December about the Ford Transit van that will replace its ancient E-Series van, still referred to by many as the Econoline. Now the company has released a bit more information. The Ford Transit full-size van that will be introduced next year will use a 3.5-liter...
John Voelcker -
2012 Ford Focus Electric: 105 MPGe, 76-Mile Range...10 SalesIt's the first battery-electric car from a global automaker, a compact hatchback eagerly awaited for years and touted by some as a revolutionary vehicle that will change the way we drive forever. It's not the Nissan Leaf. It is, instead, the 2012 Ford Focus Electric, which earned a higher...
John Voelcker -
Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost Live Gallery: 2012 Geneva Motor ShowThe 2012 Ford Focus is already known for good gas mileage, but now the popular hatchback has a new engine option courtesy of Ford’s latest EcoBoost engine technology. Unveiled yesterday at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, the Ford Focus will soon be available with a 3-cylinder, 1.0-liter EcoBoost...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Ford F-750 Plug-In Hybrid Work Truck: Not Your Little Leaf, SonnyRetail car buyers have to juggle a lot of factors in choosing a car, including image, family approval, and maybe-one-day-I'll-drive-across-the-country dreams. That may preclude a battery electric vehicle like a Nissan Leaf, with its 73-mile range. Commercial fleet buyers, on the other hand, look at...
John Voelcker -
Owning a car isn't easy these days, particularly if you're a student. That's why firms like Wheelz Inc, a peer-to-peer car-sharing company aimed at college students, has caught the attention of Bill Ford Jr.'s Fontinalis Partners LLC, and car-sharing company Zipcar. Detroit News reports that the two companies are investing $13.7 million in Wheelz, to take advantage of schemes that make motoring easier for cash-strapped students. Students who own cars can earn money by lending their cars to other students, via Wheelz. The scheme means students without cars can borrow them for short periods of...
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3-Cylinder 2014 Ford Focus EcoBoost To Deliver 50 MPG-Plus?Smaller, more efficient engines will be all the rage for the next 15 years, as automakers work to meet gas-mileage standards reaching past real-world averages of 40 miles per gallon. One of the most eagerly awaited is Ford's three-cylinder, 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine, first shown at the Frankfurt...
John Voelcker -
With 2013 Fusion Hybrid On The Way, Ford Touts 461 PatentsThe 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid is one of the more eagerly awaited green cars coming this year. With fuel economy projected at up to 48 mpg city, it improves considerably on the well-regarded current Ford Fusion Hybrid, which is rated by the EPA at 41 mpg city, 36 mpg highway, for a combined overall...
John Voelcker -
2012 Ford Focus Electric Won’t Be Available Outside NY, CA Until Sept.Back in November, we reported that Ford was planning on starting deliveries of its 2012 Ford Focus Electric to customers in New York and California before the end of 2011, with sales in other areas due to follow some time this year. In reality, while Ford technically did get all-electric Focuses to...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Ford's 1.0-Liter EcoBoost: Focus For Europe, Fiesta For U.S.Ford launched the latest engine in its expanding EcoBoost family at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show, back in September. At only one-liter in capacity, it's the smallest EcoBoost yet, and continues the downsizing trend seen with the other EcoBoost units. Ford of Europe has now confirmed that the engine...
Antony Ingram -
Ford Expands EcoBoost Range, Improves Gas Mileage For EveryoneFord’s continuing drive towards smaller capacity, direct-injected, turbocharged, fuel efficient engines continued today as it announced yet more Ford cars and trucks will get EcoBoost engine options during 2012. Moreover, Ford claims that by the end of the year, nine of its production...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Ask about green cars and most buyers think only of gas mileage. But there are other ways to make vehicles greener, including the use of renewable materials to replace petroleum-derived synthetic components. For its all-new 2013 Escape crossover, Ford has created door bolsters from a plant called kenaf. The bolsters, which insulate the interior from road noise, were made from oil-based resins in previous Escape models. Kenaf is a tropical plant in the hibiscus family, related to both cotton and okra. It most closely resembles bamboo. Its oil is widely used in the cosmetics industry, and its...
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2013 Ford Escape Pricing Released, Sort OfFord has released 2013 Escape pricing, "for survey purposes only," on its dedicated Escape microsite.
Kurt Ernst -
2013 Ford Fusion: High-MPG Engines, Hybrid, Plug-In (Video)Now that we're back from the Detroit Auto Show, we can say with confidence that the two most important cars of the show were the 2013 Ford Fusion and the 2013 Dodge Dart. The 2013 Fusion in particular got rave reviews for its styling--which blended elements of Audi A7 and even a hint of...
John Voelcker -
Ford C-Max Energi Plug-In Hybrid Minivan: VideoFord's C-Max is a vehicle currently unfamiliar to U.S. drivers, but popular in Europe as a more practical alternative to the Ford Focus, which donates its platform. However, just like the Ford Focus and 2013 Ford Fusion, the C-Max is soon to become another global vehicle for Ford. The 2012 Detroit...
Antony Ingram -
Ford: Using Apps To Maximize Your Electric Car ExperienceElectric cars might have been killed off a couple of times in the past, but the current wave appears to have hit at just the right time. It's not all to do with concerns over global warming or energy prices though - it's the potential to be more connected to your car than ever before - via...
Antony Ingram -
2013 Ford Fusion: 2012 Detroit Auto Show Live PhotosThe current Ford Fusion has been a big success for Ford, so there are high expectations for the new model. As with the Ford Focus, the new Fusion, unveiled at Detroit, will also be sold in Europe. Over there, it'll be known as the Ford Mondeo. We revealed all the details of the new Fusion...
Antony Ingram -
Unlike most cars, the current Ford Fusion is selling better now than it has at any time during its eight-year model run. That's a great lead-in for Ford, which is launching the all-new 2013 Ford Fusion at the Detroit Auto Show. With a sleeker design, a choice of three four-cylinder engines, plus not only a hybrid but a plug-in hybrid model--the 2013 Fusion is Ford's first mid-size sedan design sold around the world since the 1995-2000 Contour. "New global face of Ford" The styling of the new Fusion sedan was previewed by the Ford Evos Concept at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. The...
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2012 Ford Focus Electric: How It's Built On Same Assembly Line (Video)With the first sales of the 2012 Ford Focus Electric registered last month, Ford's battery-electric compact hatchback enters the market to compete with the Nissan Leaf and other plug-in cars. Unlike the Leaf, though, the Focus Electric is an adaptation of a high-volume gasoline-powered car. And...
John Voelcker -
2013 Ford EcoSport Crossover Launches At Delhi Motor ShowIn the U.S. market, the vast majority of crossovers and sport-utility vehicles are compact or mid-size vehicles. That's about to change, as Ford continues to launch vehicles that can be sold globally, rather than developing individual cars for specific countries. Today, Ford unveiled its EcoSport...
John Voelcker -
Santa Swaps Low MPG Reindeer For Ecoboost, Thanks To FordSt. Nicholas has a bit of a job on his hands around this time of year. His elves may get the whole year to make toys, but the Christmas Eve flight Santa makes is a logistical nightmare. Just think about it - delivering millions of presents in the space of just 24 hours? And you thought your local...
Antony Ingram -
MPGe Showdown: Ford Claims C-Max Energi Will Beat Volt, Prius Plug-InWhen they're feeling confident, automakers boast about their specs, ratings, and performance with direct comparisons to the competition. It's horsepower for specialty cars like the perennial Camaro-Mustang duel, but increasingly for mainstream and green cars, it's miles per gallon. Yesterday, we...
John Voelcker -
Ford Shares More About Delayed 2012 Focus Electric CarFord’s first all-electric mass-produced car, the 2012 Ford Focus, isn’t yet available to buy in the U.S., but Ford thinks the delay in bringing it to market will be well worth the wait. With what Ford claims will be a best-in-class fuel efficiency of 100 MPGe, and plenty of patented...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield