Tag Archives: Ford

Concept Vehicle of the Year Award Go to Ford, Hyundai, and BMW

Ford LogoEarlier this week, the Concept Vehicle of the Year awards were presented, and the big winners were Ford, Hyundai, and BMW.

The awards, which are voted upon by automotive journalists, can go to any of the concept cars that debuted at this year’s auto shows in New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. Hyundai’s HCD-14 Genesis won best concept car while the Ford Atlas pickup won best concept truck and the BMW i8 Spyder won best production preview vehicle.

What made the 2013 awards different from previous years? First and foremost, it seems like automakers are pushing to make these concepts into a reality. For example, Ford’s main aim with the Atlas was proving that a pickup truck can be powerful while still being fuel efficient. According to Ford’s truck group marketing manager Doug Scott, the Atlas is a peek at the real “future” of Ford, not an idea that will never actually materialize on the showroom floor. Secondly, the Ford Atlas and Hyundai HCD-14 were both premiered in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but it could be that Detroit is the place to look for future Concept Vehicle of the Year winners.

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Study: Detroit Has the Country’s Most Patriotic Car Buyers

ID-100151071The 4th of July has now come and gone, but CarGurus.com wanted to know which major cities were buying “patriotic” cars, or American brand cars, all year round. Read on to find out which cities fared the best and worst.

In Detroit, MI, 67.8 percent of car shoppers were looking for cars produced by General Motors, Ford, or Chrysler, a higher percentage than any other city. Coming in number 2 was Cleveland, OH, followed by Indianapolis, IN, St. Louis, MO, and Kansas City, MO.

Unfortunately, New York, NY did not perform well at all. New York came in number 4 in the Bottom 10 Cities list released by CarGurus.com. Only 39.8 percent of car shoppers were looking for American brand cars while 30.7 percent were considering Asian brands and 29.5 percent were considering European brands.

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Image courtesy of Felixco, Inc. / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Ford Announces New, Improved Regenerative Brakes

Ford Regenerative BrakesSince regenerative braking systems were introduced in the 1990s, automakers have been working to improve efficiency and transfer more braking energy back into the vehicle. Now, Ford is claiming that their new regenerative brakes can recapture twice or three-times the kinetic energy of their competitors.

A normal braking system utilizes friction between the brake pads and brake rotors, and the friction turns the kinetic energy into heat. In comparison, regenerative brakes reverse the vehicle’s electric motor, and the energy that is produced goes back into the vehicle’s battery. In the past, these brakes could recapture about 30 to 50 percent of the kinetic energy, but Dave Crombez, a technical expert at Ford, claims that Ford’s latest regenerative brakes can recapture up to 95 percent of that energy.

If the brakes can live up to these claims, Ford drivers will see a huge improvement in their vehicle’s fuel efficiency. Ford is predicting as much as 30 percent improvement, though once again it might not live up to those numbers in practice. When regenerative brakes are combined with lighter vehicle bodies, better engines, and other updates, however, they will create a much more fuel efficient vehicle together.

 Are you looking for a safer car or one with better fuel efficiency? No matter what you’re looking for, Approved Loan Store wants to help you get in a car you want at terms you can afford! Good credit, bad credit, no credit, we will work with you! Get started today by filling out our secure online auto loan application here, and for more auto news and buying tips, like Approved Loan Store on Facebook, follow Approved Loan Store on Twitter, and subscribe to Approved Loan Store on YouTube!

Ford Wins Top Prize at International Engine of the Year Awards

IEOTYYesterday, the International Engine of the Year awards were announced, and Ford took home the top honor for the second consecutive year.

The Ford 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine won the International Engine of the Year award, earning 479 points from the award’s 87 voters. It is the highest accumulated score ever given, and with Ford’s back-to-back wins, it is only the third time that an automaker has won Engine of the Year for consecutive years.

Co-chairman of the International Engine of the Year Awards Dean Slavnich praised the engine and the work done by Ford, stating, “It says something very special about an engine when it can return to the awards for a second year and still be considered to be the best engine on the market. The victory is all the more impressive given that there are some spectacularly good new entrants into the market this year…but the Ford’s little 999cc unit managed to remain the judging panel’s favourite.”

The full list of winners is as follows:

International Engine of the Year – Ford 999cc three-cylinder turbo (479 points)
New Engine – Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI ACT (234 points)
Green Engine – Fiat 875cc two-cylinder turbo CNG (184 points)
Performance Engine – Ferrari 6.3-litre V12 (294 points)
Sub 1-Litre – Ford 999c three-cylinder turbo (557 points)
1-Litre to 1.4-Litre – Volkswagen 1.4-litre TSI Twincharger (411 points)
1.8-Litre to 2-Litre – BMW 2-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder petrol (295 points)
2-Litre to 2.5-Litre – Audi 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo (368 points)
2.5-Litre to 3-Litre – Porsche 2.7-litre DI (259 points)
3-Litre to 4-Litre – McLaren 3.8-litre V8 (333 points)
Above 4-Litre – Ferrari 6.3-litre V12 (270 points)

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In Five Months, Ford Breaks Yearly Hybrid Sales Record

Ford LogoMay is barely over, and Ford has announced that they have already sold more hybrid vehicles in the first five months of 2013 than in the entirety of 2010, its previous full-year record.

So far in 2013, Ford has sold 37,000 hybrid vehicles including the Ford C-MAX Hybrid, Ford C-MAX Energi, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Ford Fusion Energi, and Lincoln MKZ. Even more exciting, sales numbers are up 375 percent compared to the first five months of 2012.

For years, the Toyota Prius has been the hybrid to beat, and there is no denying that it is still the big dog in hybrid vehicles. In California, the Prius beat out all other vehicles in the first quarter of the year, including its gasoline and diesel-powered competitors. It is vital, however, that there is some competition in the hybrid market. Automakers like Toyota will be forced to work harder and deliver a better product, and car buyers will have more great cars to choose from. Ultimately, consumers will win.

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Automakers Come Together for Oklahoma Relief Efforts

fordmotorlogoOne week ago, Oklahoma was hit with a devastating tornado which destroyed neighborhoods and left 24 people dead. Now, the community is starting the process of rebuilding, and automakers including Ford, GM, and Chrysler have pledged their support.

Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, and Volkswagen have all pledged funds or supplies. Ford has already donated a Transit Connect and $250,000 to the American Red Cross with the promise to match donations made through their website up to $250,000. Toyota and GM are putting their focus towards food service with Toyota donating $250,000 to various food service organizations and GM donating $50,000 and a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado to Forgotten Harvest.

Meanwhile, Chrysler has donated $100,000 to First Response Team of America, a non-profit supported by Lowe’s that helps communities rebuild after tropical storms and tornados. Volkswagen has donated $250,000 to Habitat for Humanity and the Red Cross, and the Red Cross is also getting help from Honda who donated power generators.

You can donate to these charitable organizations by following the links below.

Ford and the American Red Cross

GM and Forgotten Harvest

Chrysler and First Response Team of America

Volkswagen and Habitat for Humanity

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Ford and Chrysler Shorten Shutdowns, Add More Jobs

Chrysler and FordGoing into summer 2013, Ford and Chrysler are working furiously to produce more of their most popular vehicles. In an effort to keep up with the high demand, both automakers have announced that they will keep more of their plants open throughout the summer.

Typically, Ford and Chrysler will shut down their plants at certain points during the summer. Ford has a two-week summer shutdown, and Chrysler will usually shut down plants for a week or so. This year, Ford is reducing the two-week shutdown to one week, and some of the Chrysler plants will run through the whole summer with no shutdown. Ford will also add approximately 3,500 hourly jobs to keep the plants open. During that time, Ford plans to produce an additional 40,000 units.

So far this year, sales have been very good for Chrysler and Ford. Ram Trucks had a 49.3 percent volume sales increase in April with 32,124 units, and Ford had a 17.7 percent increase with 204,969 units. It is likely that sales for pickup trucks and other sporting vehicles like SUVs will increase even more as the summer goes on, so it makes perfect sense to keep the plants open longer and hire more employees.

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Earth Day: Hybrid Wheels Improve Fuel Efficiency

When automakers talk about improving fuel efficiency, they are usually planning to cut vehicle weight or designing a new engine. Lacks Enterprises presented a new way of improving fuel efficiency last week at the SAE World Congress by, quite simply, re-inventing the wheel.

The Evolve Hybrid Wheels are strong yet lightweight wheels designed for aerodynamic efficiency. James Ardern, the director of business development at Lacks Wheel Trim Systems, explains, “We have learned that wheels are contributing significantly to the fuel economy of a vehicle. The things right next to the wheels, the tires get tested. Consumer Reports, for example, has shown that better, more efficient tires can raise a vehicle’s mpg rating by one or two ticks, and Lacks has test results that show that the wheels – at least the Evolve wheels – can do the same.”

Lacks Enterprises has already tested their Evolve Hybrid Wheels on a number of vehicles including the Ford Focus SE. Their test on the Focus found that the wheels improved the city mpg by 0.4 mile per gallon and the highway mpg by 1.1 mile per gallon.

There will be more testing this summer and into the fall, and as of now, they have not announced when the Evolve Hybrid Wheels will hit the market. Still, this is an encouraging development just before Earth Day on Monday, and hopefully more automakers and designers will think outside the box in making new vehicles more fuel efficient and eco-friendly.

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New 1.5-Liter EcoBoost Engine for 2014 Ford Fusion

Changes are coming for the 2014 Ford Fusion including a new engine and six powertrain options.

Currently, the Ford Fusion is equipped with a 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine, but soon the engine will be replaced with a 1.5-liter EcoBoost engine. This might not seem like a major change, but it has two big advantages. First, Ford will side-step a tax which affects Fusion sales in China, improving their bottom line. Second, it will improve fuel efficiency in the Ford Fusion. As an added bonus, Ford can also use the 1.6-liter engines in the Escape and other vehicles.

Last year, Ford announced other changes to engines in some of its more popular models. The 2014 Ford Fiesta will be getting a 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine, Ford’s smallest EcoBoost engine yet, and this trend towards higher fuel efficiency is expected to continue.

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Ford Focus Top Nameplate of 2012

This week, the 2012 Polk global market registration data was finally completed, and the worldwide top-selling vehicles of 2012 were announced. There were a few surprises in the top 10, but Ford walked away with the top spot and the most representation on the list.

The Ford Focus was the top-selling nameplate in 2012 with over a million units. To be exact, it was 1,020,410 units, a 16 percent increase from 2011. Toyota Corolla came in second place with 872,774, followed by the Ford F-Series. Ford’s third model in the top 10 was the Ford Fiesta at number 6 with 723,130 units.

Here is the full list:

Ford Focus – 1,020,410
Toyota Corolla – 872,774
Ford F-Series – 785,630
Wuling Zhiguang – 768,870
Toyota Camry – 729,793
Ford Fiesta =- 723,130
VW Golf – 699,148
Chevrolet Cruze – 661,325
Honda Civic – 651,159
Honda CR-V – 624,982

In a press release, Ford was clearly celebrating their rankings. Jim Farley, Ford executive vice president, stated, “Focus and Fiesta represent the culmination of our One Ford global product strategy. Our global products are resonating with customers…With additional manufacturing capacity added last year, we now have a tremendous opportunity to further strengthen our global small car sales in 2013, with sales already off to a very strong start already.”

Readers, we want to hear from you! What do you think of last year’s top 10 bestsellers? Have you taken any of them for a test drive? Leave a comment below, and let us know what you think!

Are you ready to get into a new or used car today? Approved Loan Store wants to help YOU! Good credit, bad credit, no credit, we will work with you to get a car you want at terms you can afford! Get started today by filling out our secure online auto loan application here, and for more auto news and buying tips, like Approved Loan Store on Facebook, follow Approved Loan Store on Twitter, and subscribe to Approved Loan Store on YouTube!