Ford

CNET Tech Car of the Year for 2011

2012 Audi A7 Our choice for CNET Tech Car of the Year goes to the 2012 Audi A7, a car that shows superb technology throughout. The list of nominees this year included many very advanced cars representing an impressive leap over last year, proving that the automotive industry is on a hot streak. Improvements in power-train tech play a big role, which helped the Chevy Volt take a top spot in our reader poll, but the connected car seemed like the most relevant and broad-based trend, which is why our staff leaned … Read more

In celebration of the 50th year of James Bond films, a new exhibit of James Bond vehicles is opening Jan. 17, 2012 at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, U.K.

The exhibit include 50 vehicles--both Bond- and villain-driven. Several of the vehicles, such as the Ford Mustang Mach 1 from "Diamonds Are Forever," villain Zukovsky's Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II from "The World Is Not Enough," and the vintage 1962 Rolls Royce, pushed into a lake by May Day and Zorin with Bond still inside, in "A View to a Kill,&… Read more

Over the last few years, the passenger car has evolved from a gas-guzzling hunk of steel into what some have called the largest piece of consumer electronics in your life.

So, while it's fitting that the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2012) will likely be a jumping-off point for the next stage of development on car infotainment, connectivity, and safety technology, I still find it a bit odd to see so many cars sharing the floor with the likes of 3D TVs and compact digital cameras. Now that the car has established itself as a cornerstone of CES 2012, … Read more

What technology can make an in-car cell phone ban workable? Morgan Stanley takes a dim view of electric cars. Acura's first hybrid is on the way. Renault is first with a dash system based on Android. And we drive the 2012 Honda Civic Si and get the VTEC to kick in.

In its annual list, Wards Auto lauds what its editors perceive as the 10 best engines powering cars today.

The 2011 Ward's 10 best engines list pays homage to electrification, including both the mixed gas and electric system driving the Chevy Volt, and the pure electric motor in the Nissan Leaf. One diesel also made the list, Volkswagen's TDI. Among the gasoline engines, most feature forced induction. Direct injection also makes an appearance. But big displacement has its place, as seen in the 5-liter V-8s from Ford and Hyundai.… Read more

By cutting out gasoline altogether, Ford may be the first production car to break the 100 miles per gallon mark.

Ford today said it has started production of the 2012 Focus Electric at its Michigan Assembly Plant, a sedan the company expects to be rated at more than 100 miles per gallon equivalent.

The electric version of its five-seater will be available early next year for just under $40,000 before a $7,500 federal tax rebate. Ford is making the car available first in California and the New York/New Jersey area and then will make it available in … Read more

Ford Motor today announced the recall of about 129,000 Mercury Milan and Ford Fusion sedans that may suffer wheel stud fractures, causing the vehicles' 17-inch steel wheels to fall off.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall affects 2010 and 2011 models built from April 1 through April 30, 2009, and from December 1, 2009, through November 13, 2010. (To see the recall notice, click here and search on NHTSA campaign ID number 11V574000. No permalink, unfortunately.)

The recall announcement states that while the car is in use, "multiple stud fractures could occur at the … Read more

Fans of Slacker Radio can now listen to the music-streaming service on Sync-enabled Ford vehicles.

A new AppLink app allows drivers to play, skip, and ban songs or artists without taking their hands off the wheel. AppLink is a Ford application that enables Sync users to control their apps on their smartphone via voice.

"Customers now have so many options for accessing music and information. Ford Sync AppLink allows us to not only keep pace with what they are listening to, but how they are listening to it," Doug VanDagens, director of Ford Connected Services, said in a … Read more

The U.S. Navy said today it has demonstrated the successful integration of two of its key next-generation sea-based strike programs--the carrier version of the Joint Strike Fighter, and the all-new electromagnetic aircraft launch system.

Both the F-35C fighter and the EMALS launch technology are expected to see service eventually aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy's next-generation aircraft carrier, as well as other Ford-class carriers.

The F-35C is the carrier variant of the controversial Joint Strike Fighter, a $1 trillion military program that has been the subject of cost overruns and a wide range of other problems. … Read more