This is what the 2013 Ford Focus ST sounds like [w/audio]
Filed under: Performance, Hatchback, Ford
To say that we're eager to drive the 2013 Ford Focus ST is one of the understatements of the year. After seeing lots of photos and videos, we can't wait to get Ford's new hot hatch out on the road, and now, we have a pretty good idea of what sort of aural stimulation the turbocharged Focus will provide while we're tossing it about.
Ford understands that a good engine and exhaust note is an important part of any performance car's overall experience, and to that end, the automaker has implemented some interesting technology with its Focus ST. Engineers have added a special sound tube - called a sound symposer - to the ST, which specifically enhances the throaty, low-end frequencies of the exhaust. This sort of sound tube has been used before (on the Mustang and Mazda MX-5 Miata), but here in the Focus ST, there's an electronically controlled valve that opens and closes based on specific driver inputs. What's more, this valve is mapped more aggressively in lower gears for great sounds during acceleration, but stays shut more often in higher gears to allow for quieter highway cruising.
But enough of the technical mumbo-jumbo. Click the play button below to hear what the end result sounds like during an acceleration run in the Focus ST.
We like what we hear, though we'll wait to see just how it sounds when things like road and wind noise are factored in during the overall driving experience. Scroll down for Ford's official press blast.
Continue reading This is what the 2013 Ford Focus ST sounds like [w/audio]
This is what the 2013 Ford Focus ST sounds like [w/audio] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFord of Europe’s VP of manufacturing leaves after just 5 months
Filed under: Europe, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford
Mike Flewitt, Ford's vice president, manufacturing, Ford of Europe, has decided to "pursue other career interests" according to the company's press release. Jeff Wood, director of manufacturing for Ford's North America operations, will replace Flewitt beginning June 1.
Automotive News reports that the resignation comes after Ford of Europe reported a first-quarter, pre-tax loss of $149 million. The company has also cut working days at plants in Spain and days and production rates in Germany. Ford of Europe CEO Stephen Odell has previously said Ford's second-quarter production will fall by 65,000 vehicles from last year.
Flewitt began working at Ford in 1983 as an assembly plant trainee. Eventually he wound up at Rolls-Royce in 1995 as production director then moved to managing director at AutoNova AB Volvo in 1998 and operations group manager at TWR in 2000. In 2003, Flewitt returned to Ford of Europe as production quality director. Flewitt was installed in the VP position in January, 2012.
Automotive News says Flewitt has left Ford's European headquarters in Cologne, Germany for his UK birthplace.
Read Ford's press release after the jump for details and other personnel news from Ford.
Continue reading Ford of Europe's VP of manufacturing leaves after just 5 months
Ford of Europe's VP of manufacturing leaves after just 5 months originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 May 2012 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFord to boost production by 40,000 units, shorten summer plant shutdown
Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, Ford, GM
The Detroit Free Press reports Ford is set to boost production by 40,000 units. The company plans to half its summer shutdown to just one week at 13 plants this July. Ford says that it is already operating most of its facilities at maximum capacity, and adding a week of production is a good way to balance manufacturing with demand. The automaker is also adding extra shifts at three of its production facilities this month. Overall, Ford will increase its production this year by a whopping 400,000 units to three million vehicles by October.
But Ford isn't the only domestic manufacturer to step up production. Chrysler is also skipping the summer shutdown at four of its plants and idling two more for one week instead of two. General Motors, meanwhile, will continue its summer plant stops as planned.
Ford to boost production by 40,000 units, shorten summer plant shutdown originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 11 May 2012 09:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments2012 U.S. auto sales on pace to be best in five years
Filed under: Car Buying, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Toyota, Earnings/Financials
Bloomberg reports that if U.S. auto sales continue at their current pace, 2012 will mark the best year for the industry since 2007. The news comes after word that both Ford and Chrysler have slimmed or entirely eliminated the traditional summer shutdown at their manufacturing facilities to keep pace with demand.
All told, sales may reach 14.3 million cars and light trucks, according to analysts, thanks to factors like a gradually improving economy and easier credit. If the pace continues, 2012 will mark the third year of 10-percent gains, which marks only the fourth time that's happened since the Great Depression.
Car sales stalled in 2008, and 2009 saw manufacturers move just 10.4 million units. As Bloomberg points out, that's the lowest number since 1982, but buyers took home 11.6 million vehicles in 2010 and 12.8 million in 2011. The industry saw a 10.3-percent increase through the first four months of this year. As a result, General Motors, Ford and Toyota have adjusted their yearly sales forecasts accordingly.
2012 U.S. auto sales on pace to be best in five years originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 May 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsAutomakers tussle over owners of ‘orphan’ makes
Filed under: Car Buying, Marketing/Advertising, Chevrolet, Ford, GM, GMC, Hummer, Lincoln, Mercury, Pontiac, Saturn, Toyota
When General Motors put down several of its brands in recent years, it also let loose thousands of brand-loyal customers who will eventually need another car.
R.L. Polk Associates estimates there are more than 18 million cars from 16 discontinued makes on the road today. Those "orphan owners" have sales-hungry competitors seeing dollar signs. GM is offering Saturn owners $1,000 cash toward a Chevy Cruze, Cadillac CTS or a GMC Acadia. Ford is giving its Mercury lease customers a chance to get out of their contracts with no early-termination penalty and offering to waive six remaining payments if they drive off in a Ford or Lincoln.
Edmunds.com research shows the efforts are paying off somewhat for GM, with 39 percent of Pontiac owners, 37 percent of Hummer owners and 31 percent of Saturn owners taking delivery of another GM-branded vehicle. But that leaves as much as 69 percent of owners going elsewhere. Ford, Honda and Toyota seem to be attracting many former GM owners.
As Forbes points out, if you're driving an orphaned nameplate, you just might be able to use that to your advantage when shopping for a new vehicle.
Automakers tussle over owners of 'orphan' makes originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 May 2012 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsNext Ford Mustang rendered… again
It's a long ride into 2015, and you can expect it to be filled with seemingly endless speculations and renderings, all surrounding the next-generation Ford Mustang. Inside Line hass pieced together the information it has managed to gathered so far and produced a rendering that, if not for the Evos concept, would be considered not just next-generation, but next millennium.What it does, though, is tweak the Evos with the recognizable Mustang forms that IL s been told will remain, like the three-bar taillamps and the three-quarter light, though, again, the whole thing looks decidedly futuristic. Still, don't get too attached to this rendering - there'll no doubt be plenty more before we're through.
Next Ford Mustang rendered... again originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 May 2012 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsGM, Ford place in top 10 on 2012 Fortune 500 list
Filed under: Ford, GM, Earnings/Financials
If you're a blue-blooded American capitalist, there's nothing better than leading your company to the top of the Fortune 500 - except for making billions of dollars in profits, that is. But thankfully those two objectives tend to go hand-in-hand, as proven by these two men.
Indeed, General Motors CEO Dan Akerson and Ford CEO Alan Mulally have plenty to smile about when looking at the 2012 Fortune 500 list, as their respective companies are pegged at fifth and ninth. While Ford's profit last year dwarfed GM's, according to the Fortune list, GM's revenue was greater than all but four other corporations: Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips.
The only other automotive firm to hit the top 100 was supplier Johnson Controls at 67, though plenty of other suppliers made the list, including Goodyear at 126 and Ford spin-off Visteon at 321.
GM, Ford place in top 10 on 2012 Fortune 500 list originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 May 2012 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments2013 Ford Fusion configurator powers up
Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Hybrid, Sedan, Ford
Get ready. The hype machine is revving up for the 2013 Ford Fusion. And it's not going to slow down in the coming months, as Ford prepares to launch it's most important midsize entry in 30 years.
Even with no pricing available, Ford has launched its Build Your Own Fusion website. The configurator will walk a curious customer through all of the variations of the new Fusion from a base S model to the fully loaded Titanium to the gas-electric Hybrid. (The only model missing is the plug-in hybrid Fusion Energi.)
The configurator, which Ford says on the website is for "survey purposes only," will allow you to see the Fusion S in eight different colors (the Titanium model comes in nine - click through our attached gallery to see them all), list out each model's engine choices, features and options, as well continue the buzz the Fusion created at the Detroit Auto Show.
After building the Fusion of your dreams, you can also sign up for email updates, which, over the summer, will be many.
2013 Ford Fusion configurator powers up originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 May 2012 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFord says Japan should reduce size of auto industry before trade talk participation
Filed under: Government/Legal, Japan, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford
Ford is crying foul over Japan's desire to join a proposed free trade agreement among Asia-Pacific countries. The Trans-Pacific Partnership aims to reduce regulatory hurdles among its participants, but Steve Beigun, Ford vice president for international government affairs, claims the Japanese auto market is "the most protected automotive market in the developed world," and that the industry is unnecessarily dependent on exports to survive. Beigun's solution? Force the Japanese auto industry to restructure before allowing Japan in on the TPP. In industry speak, that means closing down factories.
That's an odd claim given that Japan can't possibly have a lower tariff on imported cars: zero percent. For comparison's sake, importers looking to bring vehicles into the U.S. face a 2.5 percent tariff. But Beigun says Japan uses non-tariff barriers and currency manipulation to discourage imports. Beigun declined to elaborate on what those "non-tariff barriers" are. William Duncan, the director of the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association, has been quoted as saying Beigun's assertions are "rather bizarre."
If Japan is guilty of currency manipulation, it's doing a poor job. The yen is currently at a near all-time high against the U.S. dollar, and Japanese manufacturers have steadily worked to move production out of their home country over the past two decades. All told, 70 percent of the machines Japanese automakers sell in the U.S. are built on American soil. So, why is Ford up in arms over Japan? It could be the manufacturer wants to put the country, and its manufacturers at a disadvantage in the markets covered by the TPP.
Ford says Japan should reduce size of auto industry before trade talk participation originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 May 2012 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments2013 Shelby GT500 caught testing at the Nürburgring
Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupe, Performance, Videos, Ford
The folks at Motor Authority snagged some spy video of the new 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 hitting the Nürburgring. Unfortunately, rain hit the 'Ring first, so while there are still some potent exhaust noises emanating from the 662-horsepower 'Stang, there isn't a lot of tearing it up on the slick surface.
Let's talk nemesis, namely the 580-horsepower Camaro ZL1. The battleground established, the Chevrolet folks turned their verbal turrets on the Shelby and fired high-impact rounds - see Exhibits A and B - on their way to setting an 11.93-second drag time and a "Holy smokes!" 7:41 lap at the 'Ring. Since there's no reason to dawdle round the 'Ring, we have to expect that Ford's fly-by has some sort of recon purpose.
As many will bring up once the time is set, the Shelby has a mess of advantages on paper: more horsepower, more torque, less weight. No matter, for as Cormac McCarthy wrote, there will be blood. We still don't know whose blood it will be, but oh yes, one of these cars is going to bleed. Embedding of this video has been disabled, so follow the YouTube link to watch the Shelby in action.
2013 Shelby GT500 caught testing at the Nürburgring originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 May 2012 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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