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Archive for June, 2010
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
The Blue Oval goes hand in hand with quality, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Initial Quality Study. For the first time, the Ford brand has the highest initial quality among all non-luxury brands. Additionally, Ford moved to fifth place among all brands from eighth last year, the highest position the company has achieved since its 23rd ranking in 2004. Some of Ford’s most popular nameplates received top honors for their respective segments, including Ford Focus, Taurus and Mustang.
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Thursday, June 17th, 2010
If there were any doubts about reports that the American auto industry is on the mend, they were laid to rest today with the release of J.D. Power and Associates’ 2010 Initial Quality Study (IQS). Domestic brands, as a whole, demonstrated higher initial quality than the imports for the first time in the study’s 24-year history. And, not surprisingly, Ford Motor Co. led the reformation.
Even before the Big Three went to Washington with their hats in hand back in the fall of 2008, Ford had been making sound decisions about the direction of the business. One of the pivotal moves it made was hiring Alan Mulally, the automaker’s current CEO, from Boeing. By focusing on the company’s balance sheet and leveraging its assets, Mulally was able to cut costs, put money in the bank and avoid taking government bailout money, unlike the other two big American automakers. While this endeared the brand to a financially strapped American public, it also gave Mulally the money needed to aggressively restructure the company and, more importantly, develop better automobiles.
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Monday, June 14th, 2010
CONCLUSIONS?
The galloping-away winner this time out is the Ford Mustang GT. It’s simply the one pony car most of us covet, and it’s the one that hews closest to the original concept of a lightweight (they weren’t called draft-horse cars, after all), nimble body and chassis choc-full-o’ V-8 muscle. You can see out of it, you get a nice view of the hood and the driving line you’re trying to trace, and the engine sounds better than the radio.
The lengthy and impassioned argument over which car would finish second is what really ran up the post-dinner bar tab. The proletarian staffers found the Challenger SRT8’s sticker too shocking and argued fervently for the Transformers-yellow Camaro SS, while the Jack Daniels Single Barrel swilling patricians dismissed the gauche, faddish Camaro with its overwrought controls in favor of the refined, mellow, mellifluous Dodge. (Plus it finished higher in more of our individual contests.) So when the buzzer sounded (last call), the scoreboard indicated that more staffers would prefer to own the Challenger, even if it meant downgrading to blended whiskeys and Swisher Sweets to save the extra $10 large. And so, until Chevy or Dodge tweaks a substantial engine, chassis, or body part, the Ford Mustang GT is the reigning V-8 Ponycar champion of the universe. See you next season
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Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Last year Ford announced inflatable rear seatbelts, a new safety feature to appear in the 2011 Ford Explorer. Ford brought its demonstration module for the seatbelts to San Francisco, and we gave them a try.The module included one seat with an undeployed seatbelt airbag and the other seat with the demonstration seatbelt. We sat in that seat and fastened the shoulder harness. Instead of the explosive deployment that would happen in a real crash, the seatbelt airbag gently inflated until it rested like a giant yellow slug across our chest. Deployed, it felt quite comfortable.The airbag resides inside the seatbelt strap. In an accident, the airbag fills with gas fed through the seatbelt latch, causing the strap to open up.
Ford says the seatbelt airbags are programmed to inflate at a lower impact force than would cause the front airbags to deploy, although the seatbelt airbags are also much less traumatic than the front airbags. After a deployment, getting the seatbelt airbags restored to usable condition involves a trip to the dealer. But Ford pointed out that any time the seatbelt pretensioners activate the dealer also has to restore them to operating condition.
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Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
 To show our appreciation to all the men and women in uniform who have previously served, or are currently serving our country, Ford is saluting U.S. troops with Ford: Operation Drive one. All current members and veterans of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Guard are eligible for a chance to win a 2011 Ford Mustang and a chance to win an exclusive concert by Toby Keith. All current members and veterans can enter. But you have to hurry because the deadline for registering is 11/12/10.
Register now for the random drawing and you may have the chance to be one of 12 finalists who will receive an all-expenses-paid trip for you and a guest to attend the annual NASCAR® Ford Championship Weekend in Homestead, Fla. There, two of the finalists will receive a new 2011 Ford Mustang, and the grand prize winner will earn a private Toby Keith concert on base.
The 12 finalist prize winners will represent each of the six military branches, with one current member and one veteran selected from each branch.
So sign up for Ford: Operation Drive one today!
Just go to Contact Us » today.
No purchase necessary to enter or win. Purchase does not increase your chance of winning. Complete rules available at FordOperationDriveone.com. Sweepstakes ends 11/12/10.
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