Ford

Ford of Europe will do whatever it takes to ensure the company continues to make cars, and a profit, said John Fleming, Ford of Europe Chairman and CEO.

Announcements the company made today primarily affect Ford's manufacturing operations in Germany, Spain, and its new manufacturing facility in Craiova, Romania.

The Valencia Plant in Spain will move to a two-shift pattern from May 1. Further talks will take place on how to manage the surplus labor in the short term. Longer term, two-shift versus three-shift working will depend on market demand.

Current Fiesta production will continue at Valencia, and Ford … Read more

DETROIT--While the switch to electric power steering will boost fuel economy, it also opens the door to driver-friendly features for Ford vehicles--specifically, parallel-parking assist and a torque-assist feature that reduces driver effort on crowned road surfaces.

By 2012, 90 percent of Ford's vehicles, including light-duty trucks, will be equipped with standard electric power steering, replacing hydraulic steering.

"It improves fuel economy by 3 to 5 percent--which, depending on the size of the vehicle and the engine, equates to somewhere between 0.4 and a full 1 mpg," said Ali Jammoul, chief engineer of North American chassis.

Ford is purchasing electric power steering systems from Delphi and TRW Automotive. Valeo provides the parking-assist module. … Read more

When Ford launched the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids five years ago, the company hoped the SUVs would be a hit. Now, the vehicles remain the most fuel-efficient SUVs on the market. Yesterday, workers at Ford's Kansas City assembly plant celebrated a milestone as its 100,000th hybrid SUV rolled off the line.

The Ford Escape Hybrid SUV and Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV deliver 34 mpg city driving, 31 mpg highway. The newest entries to Ford's hybrid lineup, the Fusion Hybrid and Milan Hybrid deliver 41 mpg city driving, 36 mpg highway, the most fuel-efficient midsize sedans … Read more

You may have avoided "The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift" in the theaters, but who can resist the curiosity of watching (possibly) the world's longest drift. This YouTube video shows Vaughn Gittin Jr.'s attempt to break the drift world record in a 2010 Ford Mustang for "0-60 Magazine." It was shot at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Due to high gas prices and narrow roads, Europeans have always appreciated small cars. Two new concepts from Ford and Kia show how small can be big, maximizing interior space and utility on a short wheelbase. Check out our photos from the 2009 Geneva auto show for details.

The competition between Microsoft and open-source software reaches into the automotive space with the announcement of a new alliance among automakers and technology providers called Genivi. The goal of the alliance is to build a Linux stack that will provide a common architecture for automotive infotainment systems.

At the same time, Microsoft announces version 4.0 of its own automotive platform, on which Ford's Sync and Fiat's Blue & Me systems are based. The new Microsoft platform now supports Intel chip architecture and includes what Microsoft calls "common head unit functionality," meaning that the platform comes with standard modules for integrating CD playback and ripping, along with other applications.

Version 4.0 supports a common voice command structure that works for typical car applications, such as navigation and Bluetooth cell phone integration, so users won't have to go back to a top-level tree structure to issue commands for different in-car applications. … Read more

Ford does not and will not be using soy-foam in the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. Seats are comprised of 85 percent post consumer recycled material and covered in eco-responsible fabric.

The 2010 Fusion Hybrid is the latest Ford family vehicle that to be outfitted with soy-based foam seat backs and cushions, and covered in 100 percent recycled fabric, which goes to show that mileage isn't the only way to measure the environmental impact of a car.

By the end of 2009 model year, more than 1 million Ford vehicles will have been manufactured with these petroleum-alternative seats. Since its debut in 2008, Ford has used the foam in the Mustang, Expedition, F-150, Escape, Focus, Mazda Tribute, and Lincoln Navigator.

Replacing the seat cushions may not sound like a huge technological leap, but the switch from polyurethane foam derived from petroleum to soybean oil-based foam in these vehicles has offset more than 5 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, said to Cynthia Flanigan, a plastics expert in Ford's Research and Advanced Engineering department. It's another step toward reducing the United States' dependence on foreign oil. … Read more

The 2009 Ford Focus RS looks and sounds amazing in this test-drive video that found its way onto YouTube.

Inside Line reviews the Focus RS and takes it through the paces on the roads of Monaco. The car boasts a 2.5-liter turbo engine under the hood. The car will do 0 to 60 mph in just 5.9 seconds with a top speed of 163 mph. The rally-inspired seats and fake carbon fiber fittings complete the sports car package.

Ford's 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged, direct-injected EcoBoost V-6 engine, set to debut this spring under the hood of the Lincoln MKS and Ford Taurus SHO, makes so much torque (350 pound-feet, to be exact) that apparently the automaker's standard 6F-50 six-speed automatic transmission couldn't reliably handle it. So Ford went back to the drawing board and created a new transmission specifically for the higher torque demands of the new powerplant: the 6f-55 automatic transmission.

While most of the details are highly technical in nature, the key changes for this new transmission include stronger parts and materials to deal … Read more