Category: Ford

Ford never had plan to build a right-hand drive version of the GT supercar as conversion costs wouldn’t have been covered by the final price tag. But thanks to two Australian companies, Crossover Car Conversions and Mustang Motorsport, Australian GT owners will be able to drive RHD GTs.

Both companies have converted their first Ford GT and are currently applying to the Australian Design Rules so they can be registered and driven in all states. “Handing this car over is going to be a proud moment, both in terms of the quality of our work and also just for the fact that the Ford GT is such a phenomenal car,” Mustang Motorsport’s Craig Dean said recently.

Crossover Car Conversions has already begun work on the next GT’s to be converted. Another six cars are already in line. If you want to buy a RHD Ford GT from Mustang Motorsport, it will cost you over $500,000AUD/£231,000.

Within the last two years, Ford eliminated 33,600 jobs throughout buyout and retirement packages. This time, the new “incentive” would enable Ford to cut as many as 9,000 union jobs.

The buyouts will be offered to workers from four American plants: St. Louis in Missouri, Edison in New Jersey, Norfolk in Virginia and Atlanta in Georgia. Employees have until the end of the month to accept the offer and then leave the company by March 1st. People refusing the buyout will have to relocate to another factory or be put on a “no-pay, no-benefit leave” scheme.

With this new round, Ford will lose almost 12% of its workforce. Ford focuses on reducing the union jobs. Indeed, the company pays a union worker $60/£30 per hour. The company wants to replace by new workers at a lower hourly rate for $26/£13 to $31/£16.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally wants the group’s luxury brand to go offshore in an attempt to increase the company’s global sales. However, one does not expect to see the iconic brand reaching our shores.

Indeed, Ford doesn’t want Lincoln to compete with the German clique, but would rather battle with the Japanese luxury brands such as Infiniti and Cadillac. On the western European market, Cadillac is struggling to increase its sales despite expanding its lineup with more European-sized vehicles. However the new CTS might change the order and become the first brand’s success. If Lincoln can’t compete in western Europe, it might find its way in Eastern Europe where Infiniti also plans to sell cars this year.

In addition to the problems of brand image mentioned, Lincoln might also suffer from the lack of a rear-wheel drive platform. Ford has already planned to develop a rear-wheel drive model but it won’t hit the showrooms soon.

Source: Auto Motor und Sport

Ford has already announced that it will focus on developing the Lincoln brand and here is the first spyshots of a future crossover derived from the Ford Flex model. At this stage the final spec of the future model remains unknown although it is rumoured that it will be called MKF.

Like the MKZ which shares its underpinnings with the Ford Edge, the future crossover will share its inner structure, powertrains and suspension layout with the Flex and Taurus X models, but will have unique exterior and interior styling. The exterior design appears to be derived more from the Taurus X than the Flex. The front fascia will sport the corporate grille which looks impressive on the prototype. Like the Ford models, the MKF will be based on the Ford D3 platform and will likely be powered by the 265bhp 3.5-litre V6 Duratec petrol engine.

Will a re-badged Ford Taurus-X/Flex be enough to increase sales of the Lincoln. Nothing is sure as the company’s habit to clone vehicles between brands has never been a success. Perhaps Ford should also think at differentiating technically its brands

Click here to see all the pictures

Source: Autoblog

Ford has released a teaser picture of the eagerly-awaited Focus RS version which will hit the showrooms in 2009. The teaser reveals a car with an aggressive look and strong ambitions.

The RS version has been rumoured for quite a long time and Ford finally confirmed the project. The car is expected to offer a bold design as teaser suggests with an aggressive front bumper with unusually large air intakes and large wheel arches. The press release also mentioned that the RS will be based on the current Focus ST model. Under the hood The nippy Focus hosts the Volvo-sourced 2.5-litre 5 cylinder petrol engine which has an output of 222bhp. It is said that the RS version will get at least 300bhp with the help of a twin-turbocharger architecture.

Technically, the RS might receive a special semi-active limited slip differential between the front wheels as the car won’t feature a four-wheel drive transmission. There will be upgraded springs and dampers, and bigger 19” wheels.

According to a survey conducted by JD Power and Associates, 62% of owners of sports car are interested in a sunroof. So, Ford decided to feature a sunroof on the Mustang, but when you want to stay ahead of the future competition, you have to innovate. Here is the new glass roof option which will be available in next Summer.

Mustang’s Glass Roof is made of tinted privacy glass, which reduces both infrared rays and vehicle cool-down time by 50 percent. A manual roller blind is built in, allowing owners to further control exposure on sunny days. To help improve acoustics and Mustang’s interior quietness, the glass also features a layer of vinyl that reduces noise, vibration and harshness. The technology will cost the owner $1,995. It’s less expensive but expensive enough to be a stumbling block at the time to sign the order form.

With sales down since the beginning of the year, let’s hope this new option will boost sales while waiting for the new model.