mackinaw

From today's Automotive News: "It will be expensive, but we've seen customers are willing to pay a special premium for customized vehicles," Farley said. "It raises a lot of questions about distribution and ordering," issues that he said Lincoln will study carefully in the next couple of years. "It's the modern equivalent of having your initials engraved on the driver's side door," he said. "We have a chance to explore it because our scale is smaller." Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/20130115/OEM04/130119889#ixzz2I3T7oUZ5

Much better pictures on Ford Media.com I like it. Very clean.

I don't think so. The design jump from the 1996 F150 to the 1997 F150 was substantial. Likewise, the change in design from 2003 to 2004 was equally as dramatic.

This is a good looking vehicle. Nice attention to detail. I wonder what it will cost?

Mark Fields building his own support team? Really? Ford had as many as 38,500 salaried personnel in N.A. as late as 2006. Now they have 28,400. One of the biggest concerns I hear from my contacts in Engine Design in Dearborn is the lack of new engineers. Most of the guys and gals there have worked 20 years+. An organization needs new blood if it is to survive.

As the article says, a significant amount of these new salaried jobs are in Michigan.

Good news, especially for SE Michigan: "Ford is adding 2,200 U.S. salaried jobs this year -- the most white-collar hiring the automaker has done in more than 10 years. The jobs will be in such areas as product development, manufacturing and information technology. They are full-time Ford jobs with benefits -- not agency or contract workers. Ford ended 2012 with 28,000 salaried workers in North America. Openings will be posted on the Ford Careers website at www.careers.ford.com . Ford did not disclose the exact locations where the new salaried jobs will be, but "a significant number will be in southeast Michigan," said spokesman Todd Nissen." Full article here: http://www.freep.com/article/20130111/BUSINESS01/301110141/Ford-to-add-2-200-U-S-salaried-jobs-this-year?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Maybe the Focus mid-cycle refresh?

Good news for those who own Ford stock: http://www.freep.com/article/20130110/BUSINESS01/130110021/Ford-doubling-dividend-to-10-cents-a-share?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Because the plant is so old, they're anticipating a lot of environmental cleanup. Hence, the three year estimate.

From today's Automotive News. Hardly surprising I suppose. And hardly surprising that it's in California. "Ford Motor Co. faces a federal lawsuit that contends the new C-Max and Fusion hybrids fail to deliver promised fuel economy claims. "Ford's 2013 C-Max Hybrid and Fusion Hybrid mid-sized sedan are EPA rated at 47 mpg city/47 highway/47 combined. But the lawsuit seeking class-action status, filed Dec. 7 in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of California, says Ford's marketing campaign highlighting the vehicles' fuel economy is "false and misleading." "The plaintiff, Richard Pitkin of Roseville, Calif., wants Ford to reimburse him and other owners the purchase price and rescind sales of vehicles purchased in California. "We are aware of the matter but cannot discuss pending litigation," a Ford spokesman wrote in an e-mail today." Read more: http://www.autonews....4#ixzz2GCPwEJqX

You got it. While MFT is not perfect (but getting steadily better), I can't imagine owning a Ford vehicle without it.

From today's Detroit News: "General Motors Co. will move production of the Chevrolet Camaro from Oshawa, Ontario, to Lansing Grand River plant, according to a source familiar with the plans. The company will move the next generation muscle car from Ontario to the Lansing plant, which builds the Cadillac CTS and ATS, the source said. The shift is likely to occur within a few years, the source said." From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121219/AUTO0103/212190404#ixzz2FWAQGenx

Read the article. They now have a 164 day supply of the new Malibu. A 60 day supply is considered good.

From today's Automotive News. Doesn't bode well for the new Mailbu: DETROIT -- General Motors has idled the primary U.S. assembly plant that makes the Chevrolet Malibu for nearly three weeks amid swollen inventories of the mid-sized sedan. Stocks of the Malibu, which was redesigned for the 2013 model year, stood at a 164-day supply on Dec. 1. The vast majority of that inventory was of the 2013 models. Dealers had sold through most of their 2012 stocks this spring and summer amid heavy discounting to make way for the redesigned sedan." Full article here: http://www.autonews....s-to-clear-glut

Maybe GM thinks that retro-technology is the next big thing. Ford can easily one-up them by bringing out an Ecoboost flathead.

Ford didn't release anything. This was an article by reporter Paul Lienert for Reuters. He talked to his "sources" (all undercover), wrote the article, and Reuters published it. I do admit the timing was great, having the article published on the same day GM publicly introduced their new trucks.

From Automotive News via Reuters: DETROIT (Reuters) -- Ford Motor Co. is aiming to boost the gas mileage of its next-generation F-150 pickups by 15-20 percent, thus shifting the battleground in full-size trucks from power, durability and towing capacity to fuel economy. Ford instead is intent on hiking its average truck fuel economy by up to 3 miles per gallon when it implements a $2 billion redesign of its full-size F-series in fall 2014, according to an industry source familiar with the company's plans. The 2015 Ford F-150 "will be a game-changer that will alter the dynamics of the truck segment," the source said. "They're shooting for best-in-class fuel economy." Ford aims to achieve its aggressive truck fuel-economy target by shaving an average of 700-750 pounds from each vehicle, largely through the extensive use of aluminum for doors, fenders, cab and tailgate, said two industry sources familiar with the F-series redesign program. As part of the truck overhaul, known internally as the P552 program, Ford is redesigning most major chassis components such as brakes and axles to further reduce weight. The company also is developing a new family of highly efficient engines under the internal program code Nano, the sources said. The small-displacement V6 engines will employ Ford's EcoBoost technology, including turbocharging and direct injection. The first of the Nano engines, a 2.9-liter V6, isn't likely to appear until 2016 or later, the sources said." Full article here: http://www.autonews..../121219923/1261

Actually I'm not a GM basher. I'm just surprised that they were so conservative in their update of this very important truck. And while GM is going to try and spin this as being a "working man's truck," any truck out there can legitimately claim the same. After all, any engineer worth their salt is going to design a pickup truck for the work market first and for the weekend woods warrior second. Look at it this way. They spent 4 billion dollars for what. Warmed over styling? a 1980's interior? A new line of pushrod engines. Seriously?

Pretty conservative effort. The GM faithful will like, but I'm not sure it will pick up many conquest sales. I really chuckled at the statement by engine design manager, Jordan Lee, that the engines are the most "technologically advanced engines ever offered in a light-duty pickup." These engines are all cam-in-block with pushrods. Maybe technologically advanced for 1955, but not today.

From today's Detroit News: "One of the oldest surviving cars sold by Ford Motor Co. is back in the hands of the Ford family. Bill Ford Jr., executive chairman of the Dearborn automaker, was the winning bidder — spending $264,000 — in an auction earlier this fall for an original 1903 Ford Model A Rear Entry Tonneau." Full article here: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121211/AUTO0102/212110405/Bill-Ford-Jr-buys-original-1903-Ford-Model-auction?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

I installed 3.5.1

For MFT vehicles not equipped with navigation, a software update is available on the SyncMyRide website (the nav-update comes later). I just installed it on my 2012 Focus. Outside of putting the temperature reading back onto the 8" center display, MFT looks pretty much the same. Along with many operational changes, the main improvements are vocal commands for music. Much simpler and much more direct. If you want to play a song, just name the song and it plays it. So far, I like it.

No to defend GM, but their plan was to (slightly) overproduce their pickups as they get ready for the considerable factory downtime involved in changing over to the new model of their truck. They had hoped the extra '012's would see them through until the next pickup comes on line. They badly miscalculated. Also, Chrysler really threw a wrench in the works when they dropped $5,000 in incentives on the outgoing Ram (you got to admire Sergio at times). Anyway you look at it, GM messed up big time. Anything they do now will cost them dearly (meaning less profits).

It needs to be a bit more practical (those tires/wheels are outrageous) but, to me, it has potential.