Good news for Ford, although some workers may be disappointed to not be able to take advantage of the traditional two week shut down. Ford needs new cars and trucks to keep rolling off the production lines because so many people are now buying new vehicles. The plan is to add an additional 200,000 vehicles per year and cancelling the summer shutdown will help make up about 40,000 of those. This plan also includes doing more work in fewer plants in order to keep manufacturing costs down. This requires some juggling, including flexible labor contracts and almost round the clock operations. Down time for maintenance on the production lines is not going to be looked upon well in order to reach these goals though.

Jim Tetreault, head of Ford North America manufacturing, comments, “That’s more capacity (added) than (I’ve seen) in my 35 years in the business, that is being added in a very short period of time. We have F-Series plants that are going to produce 320,000 annually.”

Last year was the first year that 400,000 vehicles were produced in order to keep up with the 13% growth increase that Ford enjoyed in the American market for the first four months of this year. To continue keeping up Ford will be adding 3,500 workers to stay in compliance with the 2011 UAW contract that promises 12,000 additional workers to be added by 2015. Most of the 3,500 workers will be hired for the Flat Rock plant to help make more Fusions. Some of them will also be hired on at the Kansas City Plant in to make more F-150 trucks and the new Transit commercial Fan.

General Motors and Chrysler have also been ramping up production to keep up with car sales. General Motors doesn’t have summer shutdowns so their lines stay running without having to cancel any time off. Some Chrysler plants will have a one week shutdown except for the Jefferson North Toledo Plant and the Connor Avenue Plant. These plants will need to continue working without a shutdown.

Source Detroit Free Press

Connected World Magazine has named the 2013 Ford Fusion Energi as their Connected Car of the Year for this year due to its advanced technology and most advance driver assist features that help drivers keep their eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, and still stay connected to their smartphones at the same time through the Ford SYNC.

Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and vice president, Ford Research and Innovation, shares, “SYNC has helped us evolve as an automaker, to think and act more like a technology company, with a new level of openness and access that has forever changed how we look at our business and respond to our customers. Ultimately, SYNC embodies one of the many things Ford is all about: going further to transform innovative ideas into products that are affordable, attainable and valuable for millions of people.”

The recent Ford press release states that anyone with an internet connection and a Ford Fusion Energi, C-Max Energi and Focus Electric can download an app that allows them to:

• Find current and projected state of charge information including estimated range and the amount of charge time necessary for additional travel distances
• Program vehicle charging with utility input, allowing the car to start charging immediately or when electricity prices are lowest with the value charging feature, powered by Microsoft
• Using features powered by MapQuest®:
• Locate charging stations and get the destination sent to the vehicle
• Know if the vehicle can reach a specific charge station from its current location with the current charge level
• Create a journey with multiple stops, and determine the likelihood the car has adequate charge for the full journey
• Find the car by creating a route from a mobile phone to the vehicle
• Receive alerts if the vehicle isn’t charging when it’s scheduled to, or if charging stops unexpectedly due to a power outage, plug removal or other event
• Receive alerts during recharge when the vehicle has reached a particular preset charge level or has the ability to reach a particular destination
• Engage remote vehicle preconditioning, using grid power to heat or cool the battery and vehicle interior
• Remotely lock/unlock doors
• Use the built-in GPS system to locate the car
• Download performance and system data
• Earn various achievements for driving and ownership milestones that can then be posted to your Facebook or Twitter account
• Fun ways of understanding your driver behavior, with ratings from “Zen” to “zippy”
• Receive information personalized, depending on which key used

This app is available for either Apple iOS users or Google Android Users. The available driver assist technologies also helped the 2013 Ford Fusion Energi win this award. The technologies included are a land keeping system, driver alert system, blind spot information system, active park assist, collision warning, rear view camera and adaptive cruise control.

The 2014 Ford Mustang GT slipped quietly into the dealerships as an early release. Because this model is going to be replaced with a brand new version for 2015, it just didn’t seem to make sense to create too much fanfare for the current model. While it retains most of the previous version’s features, it does have a few nice updates and Pony Lovers should be thrilled. In fact, classic Pony fans might want to consider driving this version home, because it still has a more traditional “muscle car” image, including a more austere dashboard.

Whether you choose a classic color like the black 2014 Ford Mustang GT in the image or opt for new color options (Ruby Red Metallice or Oxford White) is up to you. You won’t be able to get your hands on a Boss 302 with this lineup though. The rumor is it will appear again someday in some new configuration, but for now, it’s adios and you will have to make do with something else.

The 2014 Ford Mustang GT has the same 5.0 liter V8 engine as the last model, not that anyone is complaining. It still offers up 420 horsepower and 390 pound feet of torque to offer some of that Fast and Furious driving vibe. It seems the EPA estimates might be set a little high. They state 26 miles per gallon where most drivers are reporting getting around 21 miles per hour. Still, for this go-mobile that’s not bad and all and let’s face, people who opt for a high performance Mustang aren’t that concerned with squeezing fuel efficiency.

The 2014 Ford Mustang GT isn’t going to impress the techy crowd too much with its absence of a touchscreen, but for those who love getting back to their roots of muscle car glory, with more speed than you probably thought possible a few years back, then this pony is definitely worth the test drive.

Turn the speakers down a bit, the GT in this video screams:

Source YouTube

The 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid is up against a formidable opponent by going into direct competition with the Toyota Prius. Whether it will create a dent in the Prius popularity of not remains to be seen, but you have to give it a nod for making the effort as the Prius has had the hybrid buying market by the tail for quite some time now. Ford had to really step up to plate in order to produce something that would turn heads and as far as head turning the C-Max seems to have that down with its quirky design.

Quirkiness aside, the reason people decide to choose models such as the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid isn’t just for how cute it appears. Instead, they want to save money at the gas pumps and create a friendlier proposition for this beaten down earth we live in. What the C-Max did to help with those goals is to use a 2.0 liter Atkinson four cylinder engine teamed up with an AC synchronous electric motor combination. The gas engine alone will give you 141 horsepower and 129 pound feet of torque and the electric motor adds extra ponies to take the horses up to 188 horsepower to give you a peppy feeling for your drive. Peppy is not speed racing fast, but it will get you from 0 to 60 in less than ten seconds, so it isn’t too painful. Being able to get 47 estimated miles per gallon makes the speed not as important anyway.

The 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid is a Ford after all, so you can expect the full Ford experience when you climb inside this fuel efficient model. That includes the high tech touches and surprising roominess for a smaller hybrid version. All in all, Prius just might want to watch out for this new edition after all.

Source YouTube

Happy days are coming back to Detroit Michigan as General Motors, Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Group LLC have come back into the top three after nearly two decades of conceding defeat to foreign automakers. All three of these Detroit big daddies gained in market share for the first quarter of this year. They are also looking to be able to post better sales figures for April than Honda and Toyota will be able to do as well.

AutoNation Inc. CEO Mike Jackson agreed to a telephone interview and commented, “The renaissance in Detroit is real. They have fantastic new products, and they’re in a very good position to compete.”

He is not alone in pointing out the growing and long overdue success for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. While it seems the past generation of drivers were disappointed in the less than top quality vehicles that were being churned out, they had given up and gone to the foreign automakers. The American automakers learned their collective lesson though and are coming back big time with high quality, high tech and high excitement vehicles whether your flavor is eco-friendly, sporty, luxury or soccer mom large and in charge mobiles.

George Magliano, senior principal economist for IHS Automotive, stated: “From now on, the window has been opened to everybody. The baby boomers used to walk in like zombies and buy the Toyota. They don’t do that anymore. They can buy a Korean car, they can buy a Volkswagen, and they certainly can buy a Detroit car.”

This isn’t a time to sit back and gloat over the winnings though, it just means it’s time to work harder and better to keep those best in class cars coming out. Bob Shanks, Ford’s chief financial officer, said, “We’re going to have to watch very closely what happens competitively as the Japanese competitors were able to benefit from the weak yen. We are starting around the world, not just in North America, very selectively and very early, to see some signs. They’re taking advantage.”

Source Auto News

What better way to honor Henry Ford other than building an academy in his name? That is exactly what the School for Creative Studies College will be doing with the $1 million pledged to them by Ford. This donation will be paid out over a five year time period and will go for establishing the Henry Ford Academy: School for Creative Studies (HFA: SCS) College and Career Transitions Office at CCS, as well as start a Ford Blue Oval Scholarship fund at CCS for graduates of HFA: SCS to attend CCS.

HFA:SCS was created by the School for Creative Studies College and the Henry Ford Learning Institute along with funding from the Bob and Ellen Thompson Educational Foundation.  This is a public charter middle and high school and is located in the School for Creative Studies College A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education. It will be graduating it’s first senior class this year.

Jim Farley, executive vice president, Ford Global Marketing and Sales and Lincoln, and a member of the Creative Studies College Board of Trustees, said, “These two unique institutions in downtown Detroit share a commitment to the education of promising students for a vibrant creative economy future. Ford Fund’s assistance will maximize their impact and support for a population that is traditionally underrepresented in art and design professions.”

Richard L. Rogers, president of the College for Creative Studies, commented, “We are delighted with Ford Fund’s generous gift which provides the resources to work more closely with Henry Ford Academy: School for Creative Studies. I look forward to welcoming new HFA: SCS graduates to CCS next year as part of our mission to bolster the creative economy in Detroit.”

Ford and the School for Creative Studies College also partner up for other events as well including a number of Corporate Sponsored Research Projects. One of their latest projects was a design project that focuses on trends in urban mobility. Not only do these types of events push needed technology forward, they offer real life experience for students for solving art and design challenges.

Source Ford