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Filed under: Car Buying , Ford , Toyota The long-time comeback for inquiring creditors has always been the once fail-safe "The check is in the mail." That oldie but goodie won't work anymore if you've purchased a new vehicle from Ford or Toyota's credit arm. The two automakers have adopted bar code scan technology that tells each company whether or not your check actually is in the mail. The same technology is used by Netflix to determine when a subscriber has sent back a DVD, which enables the cloud-based DVD rental service to send that customer another DVD before the first actually arrives back. Though the bar code scan technology can be a hassle for people trying to get credit companies off their backs, it actually helps them, as well. If a payment was lost in the mail or some unforeseen natural disaster like a hurricane puts your check under five feet of water, the credit companies will know and you won't have to pay a late fee. Also, if your check really is...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Ford , Lincoln , Mercury 2008 has been a historically woeful year for the auto market, but Ford dealers have been in the crosshairs of a sales decline for over a decade. That brutal reality, along with financial incentives of up to $700,000 or more from the Blue Oval, has lead to the closure of over 500 dealers since mid-2006, and over 150 so far in 2008. To close still more dealers while giving remaining stores a heads-up of future happenings, Ford is embarking on a series of meetings with Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealers. Among the topics of discussion will be future products, product volume and market conditions. Though Ford isn't stating publicly how many dealerships it wishes to close, the Blue Oval is hoping to have enough departures to make the remaining dealerships healthy. Ford would like to see Ford brand dealers with 1,500 sales per month and Lincoln Mercury dealers with 600 sales per month, which is far higher than what Ford's 3,900 stores are...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Economy , Sedans/Saloons , Trucks/Pickups , Plants/Manufacturing , Commercial Trucks , Hatchbacks , Ford , Lincoln Click on the pic above for our high-res 2009 Ford F-150 gallery As staggering as it may seem, the 2008 Ford F-150 pickup can be ordered in billions of different combinations. That's all going to change for 2009. In an effort to reduce complexity and cut spiraling costs in the process, Ford will be slashing the number of possible F-150 configurations by 90 percent. The automaker isn't leaving the rest of the lineup alone either. The Ford Expedition goes from 250,000 combos down to fewer than 10,000. The 2009 Lincoln MKS debuts with about 300 combinations, and the 2010 Ford Focus will offer only about 150, which is 95 percent fewer than the current model. Are you in the market for a 2009 Ford F-150 and worried that you won't be able to get it exactly the way you want? Don't fret, Ford will still offer more than 9 million combinations...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Tuners , Sports/GTs , Auction Action , Ford , Shelby Click above to enlarge Are they really "one-of-a-kind," as stated by Kruse on its official auction page, if there are 25 of them going up for auction on the same day? That's not to say getting one of the 500 Hertz Shelby Mustang GT-H Convertibles (sheesh, that's a mouthful!) that were built in 2007 is a bad thing, but nobody really knows if these vehicles will ever really gain in value over more pedestrian versions of Ford's iconic pony car like their forebears have. Rest assured, though, you are not going to be bidding the same $250,000 that collector Ron Pratte paid for serial #001. For reference, the last batch of rent-a-racers that were auctioned off managed about $33K per unit . The car itself is powered by a 319-horsepower version of Ford's ubiquitous 4.6-liter three-valve V8 engine mated to an automatic transmission -- perfect for the kind of top-down summer cruising that these...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Crossovers/CUVs , Ford Click the image above for more high res photos of the 2009 Ford Flex When the Ford Fairlane concept bowed in Detroit in 2005, it proved that Ford could design a stylish crossover recognizable from a mile away. Unfortunately, Ford didn't exactly have a stellar record of bringing hot concepts to market, so expectations were low that we would ever see the Fairlane reach production. Fast forward to 2008, and the Ford Flex is born. It's bigger than the Fairlane, yet it looks very much like the outlandish wagon that we saw in Motor City a few years earlier. Does the Ford Flex have the style, capability and appointments to be a player in the suddenly crowded large CUV market? Or is this modern day Woody just another oversized people hauler that misses the mark? Hit the jump to see how the all-new Flex fared during its stay in the Autoblog Garage. Gallery: Ford Flex Autoblog Garage All photos Copyright (C)2007 Chris Shunk / Weblogs, Inc....
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Filed under: Car Buying , Podcasts , Chrysler, LLC. , Dodge , Ford , GM , Mazda , Toyota , Earnings/Financials We busted our humps getting to Podcast #100, and then promptly slacked off. Chris Shunk and Dan Roth make the effort this week to get Autoblog Podcast #101 out the door while the rest of the team remains difficult to corral. The usual banter about what's been in the Autoblog Garage starts us off before we dive headlong into the pithy GM news from earlier this week. Love it? Hate it? Send your comments, suggestions, or anything else to podcast at autoblog daht kahm. Thanks for listening! SUBSCRIBE to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes ADD the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator DOWNLOAD the show now Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Car Buying , Euro , Hatchbacks , Ford Click image above for a photo gallery of the Fiesta Zetec S While the official unveiling of the 2009 Ford Fiesta is still a couple weeks away, that hasn't stopped Ford from tossing sneak peeks of a sportier Fiesta Zetec S out to the hot-hatch followers. Nowhere near as aggressive as the Focus RS , the Zetec S is differentiated by its body kit with new front splitter and side skirts. The European Fiesta will be offered with five different engines, but the Zetec S will feature only the Duratec 1.6-liter rated at 118 hp. Tuned for efficiency, yet designed to be fun-to-drive, the new hatch will scoot to 62 mph in less 9.9 seconds and squeeze an impressive 50 miles out of a single gallon of gas. Gallery: 2009 Ford Fiesta Zetec S Gallery: 2009 Ford Fiesta [Source: Auto Express ] Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Car Buying , Convertibles , Minivans/MPVs , Wagons/Estates , Crossovers/CUVs , Hatchbacks , Ford , Toyota , Volkswagen , Carsumer Advocacy As the self-appointed family car reviewer for Autoblog, I have some opinions on the topic. If money were no object, my nomination for the ultimate family car would be split between the Mercedes-Benz R-Class and the BMW 5 Series wagon . But the R-Class entry price is $42k, and the Bimmer's is close to $50k -- not exactly family-friendly. Forbes Magazine , however, is a bit more realistic in its quest for the perfect family car, and considers price a deciding factor, like the majority of families. I agree with its Compact Car pick. The 2009 Volkswagen Rabbit is a good deal for your $16k entry price (though Forbes says $19k). On paper, its 15 cu. ft. of cargo space doesn't sound like much, but in reality, it's bigger than it sounds. The Rabbit also averages about 25 mpg, and these days, that's a big deal. Still, there are some...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Chrysler , Ford , GM Showing great discipline amid declining sales, the Detroit 3 have held back on the temptation to dump vehicles on fleet customers in order to boost numbers. As we reported last month , selling vehicles to corporate fleets and daily rental companies has been a long-practiced method to offload automobiles when sales slow down. Unfortunately, it also results in lowered residual values in the marketplace as these vehicles are dumped in quantity at auctions at the end of their service. Over the years, some models have even earned a "fleet" or "rental vehicle" stereotype, additionally damaging their public image, and sales, at the retail level. The Ford Taurus, for instance, was only sold to fleet customers during the last generation's final year of production, which may have further damaged the brand and affected sales of the renamed 2008 Taurus. Even though the Detroit 3 are limiting fleet sales, it is still a large chunk...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Marketing/Advertising , Chrysler , Dodge , Ford , Earnings/Financials Times are tough in Detroit these days as each of the Big 3 saw drastic drops in sales for the month of May. It's not surprising, then, to see that Chrysler , Dodge and Ford have increased incentives in an effort to get those cars off its dealer's lots. For instance, prospective buyers for the Hemi-powered Chrysler 300C can now choose either $4,000 cash back or $2,000 plus Chrysler's $2.99 gas promotion , known as Let's Refuel America. Choosing Chrysler's full-size SUV, the Aspen, will net you $4,500 cash back or $1,000 in cash, plus the Let's Refuel deal. Dodge too is heavy into the incentives game, especially on fuel-gulping SUV's and trucks. The largest savings come with the 2008 Ram truck, which gets you $5,000 in cash or $3,000 plus the cheap gas card. Realizing the sorry state that sales of the F-Series are in, Ford has chosen to offer employee pricing for its...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Sports/GTs , Ford What's this? News about less Mustangs? Mustang guru Brad Barnett has learned that Mustang marketing manager Fritz Wilke estimates only 45,000 Mustangs will be produced for the 2009 model year. We don't know if the 45 is symbolic of the 45th anniversary of Ford's pony car, but it's significantly less than any other year the Mustang has been produced. In fact, it's only about half that of the 79,280 Mustangs produced in 1992, the current lowest tally, and far below the 134,626 'Stangs sold last year. We can see it now... Ford dealers marking up the rare 2009 Mustang. The most likely situation is that dealers will have trouble selling the remaining Mustangs as customers wait for the updated model in 2010, hopefully with a 5.0-liter V8 . Thanks for the tip, Brad! [Source: TheMustangSource.com ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Car Buying , Sedans/Saloons , Marketing/Advertising , Ford , Lincoln Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Lincoln MKS The first 2009 Lincoln MKS is still a couple months away from arriving at your local Lincoln dealer, but Ford has announced that 8,600 customers have already signed up for the all-new sedan. The MKS has garnered this hefty dose of interest no doubt due to Lincoln's new design language, its well-crafted interior and large number of high-tech gizmos, but Ford's marketing team deserves some credit, too. They began their work announcing the sedan's starting price of $37,895 way back in November during the L.A. Auto Show , then followed up by giving would-be customers early access to a build and price tool on the Lincoln website. The marketing team is also reportedly training dealerships to be knowledgeable about the MKS months ahead of the usual timetable, which has helped salesmen secure preorders for the vehicle sight-unseen. Preorders traditionally...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Etc. , Ford Car payments are way down on the list of concerns for victims of the recent tornados in Iowa. Thus, Ford Motor Credit has introduced a Disaster Relief Program that will offer grace from one or two monthly payments to qualified customers. Lease customers, or buyers who financed purchases through Ford Credit or other brand-specific financing arms (Jaguar Credit, Land Rover Capital, Mazda American Credit, Primus, or Volvo Car Fiance) will be notified by mail about how to register. Once registered, customers can postpone one or two months worth of payments, allowing them to focus on putting their lives back together again before worrying about the next check to Ford. We expect other automakers to follow Ford's lead this week as the extent of damage caused by Iowa's strongest tornadoes in 32 years is fully revealed. [Source: Ford Motor Credit, Photo: NOAA] Continue reading Ford delays car payments for victims of Iowa tornado Permalink | Email this...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Ford , Toyota Strategic Vision has announced the results of its annual Total Quality Awards and is touting the performance of Ford this year versus perennial powerhouse Toyota. Both brands have three vehicles each that lead their segments, which include the Edge, Mustang Convertible and F-250/350 for Ford and Toyota's Yaris, 4Runner and Sequoia. The Volvo C30 also led the Small Specialty under $25,000 segment and the Mercury Sable the Large Car category, while the Scion xB was tops in the Small Multi-Function segment and the Lexus RX350 tied with the Land Rover LR2 in the Near Luxury SUV segment. Though all of those brands are technically owned by either Ford Motor Company or Toyota North America, none were counted by Strategic Vision in the battle of the Blue Oval versus the Japanese Juggernaut, though the automakers still would've tied if they were (if Land Rover were not counted as owned by Ford). Meanwhile, the Medium Car segment was lead by the Volkswagen...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Gadgets , Crossovers/CUVs , Ford The move to make your car a rolling house makes takes another step. Ford has included a refrigerator option on the all new Flex, and in doing so has provided something better than what you'll find on many luxury cars. The rear seat gadget doesn't just chill the holding area -- it runs off of a compressor, like a proper fridge, to chill a liquid to keep things cool. In normal operation it can take drinks from room temperature, at 77 degrees Fahrenheit, down to 41 degrees in two- and-a-half hours. It also has a freezer option that can get keeps items a chilly 23 degrees F. And it is sealed well enough so that it takes almost three hours for the temperature to go up just 18 degrees F. Should you wish to add the fridge to your Flex, the option will cost you a cool $760. [Source: Kicking Tires ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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