Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Ford Motor Company

Ford Hits 8,000 Orders For 2013 Escape

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 03:54:46 +0000

Ford has hit about 8,000 orders for the new 2013 Escape SUV according to Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski. Kozleski said that Ford expects the base S trim to account for only 10% of sales. Half of the orders are expected to come from higher trim levels including the SEL and the Titanium. Kozleski added that most buyers will most likely choose one of EcoBoost engines over the 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine. The high-end Ford Escape Titanium has a 2.0 liter EcoBoost 4-cylinder as standard, which is 240-hp and 270 lb-ft of torque. [egmcartech]

Ford Electric Focus Becomes First Pace Car For The NASCAR Richmond 400

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 04:19:50 +0000

Ford Motor Company is making NASCAR history this month by having the all-new Focus Electric becoming the first all-electric pace car to ever lead the field for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the Richmond 400. The all-new Focus Electric will perform all pace care duties at the Richmond International Raceway on April 28th.

“Ford research shows the majority of Americans would consider buying an electrified vehicle but do not yet understand the different technologies,” stated Ford president of The Americas Mark Fields. “Highlighting the Focus Electric as a pace car is a fun way to educate consumers about the kinds of benefits our electrified vehicles deliver and show people our commitment to provide Ford customers the power of choice for leading fuel economy in the vehicle that best meets their needs – from EcoBoost-powered gasoline vehicles and hybrids to plug-in hybrids and full electrics.”

Ford was the first manufacturer to compete with a four-door sedan in NASCAR in 1998. Ford was also the first to use a hybrid to start a NASCAR event when the Fusion Hybrid served as pace car for the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2008.

Ford Motor Company Devoting Research Lab To Hybrids and EVs

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:55:10 +0000

Ford Motor Company has announced that they are going to be devoting one of their largest research labs to developing hybrids, electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrids. Their 285,000 square foot advanced engineering center in Dearborn, Michigan will be the go-to location for Ford’s research effects to develop advanced fuel-efficient vehicles.

This year Ford plans on offering 9 vehicles that will have more than 40MPG. These vehicles will include the Ford Focus Electric and plug-in hybrid sedan 2013 Ford Fusion Energi.

Around a decade ago, Ford research showed that customers were rejecting them because of poor fuel economy said Ford’s head of global product development Raj Nair. “Now people are coming to us because we do have superior fuel economy to the majority of our competitors, and that’s going to be the heart of our strategy going forward.”

[egmcartech]

Ford CEO Alan Mulally’s Compensation Rises 11% To $29.5 Million

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:21:41 +0000

The salary, cash bonuses, and stock for Ford CEO Alan Mulally has been increased by 11%, adding up to an annual amount of $29.5 million. In 2010, Mulally was paid $26.5 million.

Mulally’s compensation includes $2 million in salary, $5.46 million in cash bonuses, and $22 million in stock awards. Ford cut his cash bonus 42% for a year. Mulally joined Ford from Boeing in 2006. He helped engineer a turn-around in the company’s globalizing operations and cut costs. He also pushed for fuel-efficient models like the Fiesta.

Executive Chairman Bill Ford received a total compensation of $14.5 million, which is down 45% from 2010. In 2011, Bill Ford received $2 million in salary, $1.56 million bonuses, and $10.9 million in stock.

Ford Redesigning MyTouch After Ratings Drop

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:15:22 +0000

The ratings of the MyFord Touch screen user interface built into new Ford cars have been going down. Ford started building the MyFord Touch as a way to distinguish themselves from competitors. However many Ford buyers became frustrated with flaws in their MyFord Touch systems. Even though the MyFord Touch systems were meant to increase loyalty, the quality ratings at the company have gone down. The MyFord Touch has replaced many of the traditional knobs built into other vehicles. Ford is now issuing a major upgrade and is redesigning what customers are seeing on the screen. Ford is resolving complaints about system crashing and reboots as well.

Fonts are buttons on the screen are being enlarged and the layouts of over 1,000 screens are being revamped. “We expect that these improvements will put us back on track in the quality ratings,” stated Ford’s group vice president for global product development Derrick Kuzak in an interview with the New York Times. “It’s more than just an update. This is a substantial upgrade.”

Ford is sending upgrades to customers through USB flash drives. The installations of the new system takes about an hour. If customers prefer, Ford dealers can take care of the upgrade for them. The upgrade kits were sent out yesterday and over 300,000 customers with MyFord Touch in their vehicles can expected the flash drive in the mail later this week.

The irritation people have with MyFord Touch was cited last week by Consumer Reports as a major reason why Ford fell to 10th place this year on the Automaker Report Card. In 2011, Ford was ranked at fifth place. Ford’s rivals like GM, Toyota, and Chrysler have been creating similar features as MyFord Touch, but they have not received as much negative feedback. Ford’s system has climate controls, hands-free communication, and entertainment all in one console. About four out of every five people that have bought a Ford Explorer or Ford Edge have bought configurations that cost at least $5,000 more than the base model.

The basic version of Ford Sync launched in 2007 and costs $295. Ford Sync comes standard on some models of Ford automobiles. One of the major changes in the user interface for the MyFord Touch was the ability to control the heated seats on the home screen. Before a driver had to go through several clicks to get to this option.

Facebook and Ford Develop Automatic Event Check-In Concept At Hackathon

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:27:43 +0000

Facebook and Ford recently came together at a joint Hackathin event to come up with ideas to make cars more social. About 30 engineers from Ford and Facebook got together for 24 hours to rapidly develop prototype apps that would integrate Facebook’s social elements into Ford SYNC.

Some of the app concepts that were developed at the Hackathon would be further pushed at Ford’s labs in Dearborn, Michigan. One of the winning concepts was having a car’s system check if a user has arrived at his or her Facebook event location. If they have arrived, then the person would be automatically checked in on Facebook once the car’s ignition is turned off.

Another idea was to have the car read off a list of nearby restaurants that have been recently liked by your friends or play music that your friends are currently listening to in their homes.

Ford’s SYNC connectivity platform is currently already in over 4 million vehicles. SYNC allows drivers to listen to their favorite music, get directions, and answer calls using voice commands.

[Source: Autoblog]

Ford Changes Motto To “Go Further”

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:28:00 +0000

Ford’s motto used to be “Drive One” in North America and “Feel the Difference” in Europe. Now they are shifting their brand name to “Go Further” across North America and Europe. The new slogan was supposedly inspired by the powerful mottos “Just Do It” by Nike and “I’m Lovin’ It” by McDonalds.

Their new motto was also inspired by the fact that Ford came close to collapsing six years ago, but ended up making it through the recession of 2008 in an amazing comeback. Chrysler, one of Ford’s largest rivals, has received a lot of positive feedback for their “Imported from Detroit” campaign that featured Eminem recently.

However Ford and Chrysler’s brands are not rated very high by the Interbrand index compared to their international rivals. Toyota was in 11th place, Mercedes-Benz was in 2nd place, BMW was in 15th place, and Honda was in 19th place, and Volkswagen was in 47th place on the Interbrand index. Ford tailed behind at 50th place.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler Post Solid Gains This Year

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:38:09 +0000

The three Detroit automaker companies have announced strong sales in the past year, especially due to increased consumption in December. GM posted a 4.5% gain in December, which gave them a 13% rise in sales for the year. Ford posted the best December sales in five years, which led to an 11% sales gain for the year. Chrysler posted the largest gain as December sales rose 37% and full year sales rose 26%. If these increases in market share hold up against Toyota, then it would be the first time since 1988 that all three Detroit companies posted market share gains at the same time. [CNN]

Ford Sold Over Two Million Vehicles In 2011

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 03:42:06 +0000

Ford Motor Company has announced this past Friday that sales in the U.S. have surpassed 2 million. The last time that happened was 2007. The sales through November was up 18% for the first 11 months of 2010. Sales of small cards this year are on pace to rise over 20% and utility vehicles are up over 30%. On December 1st, the company sold about 1.94 million vehicles in 2011. Ford’s sales has improved this year as people are starting to replace the cars that they were holding on to during the recession. The company also did a holiday advertising blitz that convinced some people that now is a good time to buy. [MSNBC]

Ford Designs A Car Sleigh Concept For Santa

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:59:04 +0000

Ford Motor Company has decided to do something offbeat for the holidays by creating this sleigh concept for Santa Claus. Since Santa has to travel 200,237,360 km, why shouldn’t he try to be more green? The sleigh is based on the Ford Evos concept and it will save 214,670 tons of CO₂. Santa would also save money from having to spend $191 million to feed his reindeer carrots.

“They may look cute, but Santa’s team of nine reindeer create a staggering 214,670 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions each year, so something had to be done to help him re-discover his greener roots,” stated Ford car designer Paul Wraith. “We’re already thinking of the concept sleigh mark II. With electric vehicle battery technology developing all the time, we are keen to get to work on a zero-carbon version of our sleigh.”