Report: Mazda to Cut Ties with Ford and Stop U.S. Production by 2013

Earlier in May, we told you about a report concerning Mazda’s plans to discontinue production of its Mazda6 mid-size model at its joint-venture plant with Ford in Michigan. Today, new reports from both Japan and the U.S. are claiming that Mazda Motors will dissolve its 50-50 joint venture with Ford and stop building cars in the USA by 2013, with the Japanese company already in talks with the Detroit automaker to sell its stake in their car production venture Auto Alliance International [AAI]. Read more »

Ford’s Smallest Production Engine Ever: The New 1.0-liter EcoBoost Three-Cylinder Gasoline Unit

It took the Ford Motor Company a very long time to jump aboard the turbocharged engine bandwagon for mainstream, non-sport models, but now the Detroit automaker is going full speed ahead with the presentation of a full range of force-fed gasoline powerplants. Ford latest offering is a new 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine, the company’s first three-cylinder unit and its smallest production engine ever.

Designed by the engineering team at Ford’s Dunton Technical Centre in the U.K., the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine promises to deliver performance of a larger four-cylinder unit with even higher fuel economy. It employs all EcoBoost technologies, such as turbocharging, direct injection and twin independent variable camshaft timing (Ti-VCT).

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Toyota Sales Plunge More than 33% in May, Chrysler Group up by 10%

The numbers for U.S. auto sales for the month of May are out and as expected, Japanese automakers continue to be hit hard by the ongoing production disruptions caused by the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in their home market. As a result, Toyota’s sales plunged 33.4% over the year-ago month to 108,387 units, while rivaling Honda saw its sales fall 22.5% to 90,773 vehicles, Nissan recorded a 9.1% drop to 76,148 units and Mazda 17,875 vehicles, down 20.9%.

General Motors dealers in the United States delivered 221,192 vehicles in May posting a decline of 1%, while the Ford Motor Co. said its sales decreased by 0.1% to 192,253 cars, trucks and SUVs.

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Big Brother is Watching, Well, All of us: U.S. DoT Seeks to Make Event Data Recorders Mandatory

Australian inventor and all-round genius Dr David Warren is widely considered to be the father of the “black box” Flight Data Recorder (FDR). His invention helped make flying safer by giving investigators valuable insights into the mechanical goings-on of a crashed aircraft. What may surprise you is that for the last twenty years similar devices have been installed in our cars.

Event Data Recorders (EDRs) are the automotive equivalent of an aircraft’s FDR. These devices record acceleration and deceleration forces, engine RPM, temperature, oil pressure and a host of other things. After a crash, the information can be recovered and studied, aiding investigators.

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Loder1899 Tunes Into the New 2012 Ford Focus Hatch

The all-new Ford Focus has barely launched in Europe but the German aftermarket specialists at Loder1899 have already created a dedicated tuning package. The company dresses the new compact hatchback with numerous carbon-fiber elements such as the front spoiler lip, matching side skirts installed on the door sills and an RS-style rear apron with an integrated air diffuser. Read more »

Hoon Crackdown: Two Anti-Hooning Ads from Different Ends of the Spectrum

In Australia and New Zealand, “hooning” is a term applied to any anti-social and often dangerous behavior behind the wheel of a car. Burnouts, car surfing and illegal street racing all fall under this rather broad definition. And it’s an ever-growing problem. Each year there are more reports like, “Hoons kill innocent driver in Dandenong, say police” and, “Man killed in Burwood Highway 'hoon' crash.”

So it’s obvious that cracking down on hooning is very important to the governments of both nations. Here we have two adverts, one from Oz and one from Kiwiland, that use tactics both old and new to get their message across. The Aussie one plays on that, “If you hoon, you’ll lose your car” message while the NZ one plays on the, “If you hoon, you’ll lose your life” vibe. Who knew that New Zealand’s roads were covered with hidden landmines?

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British Study Reveals the Most Popular Hairdresser’s Car in Real Life

And no, despite what you may have heard or read, the Audi TT ain’t the most popular car among hairdressers – or at least not in Britain. According to a new study made available today by UK women's car insurance specialist Diamond, that title goes to…*drums please*…the one and only, MINI One hatchback. In fact, the BMW Group’s MINI brand had two vehicles in the top five positions.

The UK insurance firm came to this conclusion after looking at data from over 18,000 hairdressers in Britain. The company said the MINI One is three and a half times more likely to be driven by someone working as a hairdresser than everyone else.

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So Long and Thanks for all the Fish: The Last of San Francisco’s U.S. Dealerships Closes its Doors for Good

Are you in the market for a new car in San Francisco and are considering a product built by America’s Big 2.5? If so, then I have some bad news: the last U.S. domestic automaker dealership has just shut up shop. San Francisco Ford Lincoln Mercury on Van Ness Avenue closed a few weeks ago, leaving some 50 employees out of a job.

Ford Lincoln Mercury presidente Mel Turner told the San Fransisco Chronicle: “We are proud to have served the San Francisco community and will be focusing over the coming weeks on helping employees through this transition and ensuring our current customer commitments are met.”

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Defunct Brand Owners Shun GM and Ford

There are some three million former Saturn, Pontiac and Hummer customers in the United States, all of whom will unlikely ever have the pleasure of buying a newer model of their current make again. These are some of America’s defunct brands, all gone the same way as Plymouth, DeSoto, Packard and many others. These latest additions were culled following General Motors bankruptcy reorganisation in 2009. And Mercury owners are in the same boat.

Now, Ford and GM are desperately trying to hold onto these “brand-less” customers. Accoriding to a report from the Wall Street Journal, in this year alone, 70% Pontiac owners, 71% of Saturn owners and 65% of Mercury owners who traded in their vehicles left with something other than a Ford or GM product.

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Ford Releases “Spy” Photos of its Upcoming 2012 Focus ST Hot Hatch

The high-performance version of the Ford Focus is currently undergoing testing in Europe and North America as the Detroit-based carmaker prepares it for a 2012 market launch. Just like the standard Focus models, the new sport variant will follow the company’s “One Ford” strategy and go on sale in Europe, North America and Asia under the same Focus ST nameplate. Read more »

Ford’s Facebook Fans Choose “Mayhem” Moniker for the Mustang V6 Performance Package

Ford held a contest on its official Mustang Facebook page asking fans to suggest a name for the new V6 Performance Package. More than 3,000 submissions were made and nearly 6,700 users installed the “You Name It” app that let them take part in the contest. Some 1.4 million fans were then asked to vote with the winning name being “Mayhem Mustang Package”. The top-voted submission came from Jeremy Marler from North Carolina, who won a three-year lease on a 2012 Mustang, equipped of course with the Mayhem Mustang Package. Read more »

Mazda6 and Subaru Tribeca to be Axed, According to Report from Japan

Mazda and Subaru may soon be forced to axe two of their models in the US market, the Mazda6 mid-size vehicle and the Subaru Tribeca SUV, due to low volumes that undermine the efficiency of the U.S. plants that they are built in, according to a newspaper report from Japan’s business daily Nikkan Kogyo. It should be noted though that spokesmen for both companies declined to comment on the report.

Nikkan Kogyo wrote that Mazda is planning to discontinue production of the Mazda6 at the Flat Rock, Michigan plant, which it operates as a joint venture together with Ford Motor Co., as sales missed expectations. When Mazda introduce the latest generation of the mid-size model in 2008, the company expected an annual production of around 100,000 units, but last year, the plant churned out just 45,168 Mazda6s. In April, Mazda6 posted an increase of 7.8 percent but sales reached just 2,734 vehicles.

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Chipped Ford 2.0-liter EcoBoost Gains 40 More Ponies

As Ford gradually spreads out its new 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder engine to more models across its international lineup, tuners are jumping in to offer their performance goods. And the easiest way to do this of course is by reprogramming the car’s engine controller. Superchips Ltd has developed a new firmware upgrade for the European version of the four-cylinder EcoBoost currently found on the refreshed S-Max and Galaxy minivans, as well as the Mondeo. Read more »

Ford’s Cologne Plant Celebrates Production of One Million New Fiestas in 33 Months

The festivities over the new Fiesta continue at Ford with the production of the one-millionth current generation model at the company’s central European plant in Cologne, Germany. The production milestone comes less than two months after Ford announced that European sales of the new Fiesta reached the 1 million mark in the beginning of March, 2011. Current global sales of the new Fiesta stand at 1,350,000 unit since its introduction in October 2008. Read more »

NHTSA Investigates 200,000 Ford Escape and Mercury Mountaineer SUVs for Shattering Tailgate Glass

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it has opened a preliminary investigation concerning 200,000 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs from the 2010 and 2011 model years, after receiving several complaints that the window glass in the tailgate allegedly shattered without warning.

The safety agency said it received 18 complaints noting that “the liftgate window glass shattered spontaneously, while opening the liftgate or while closing the liftgate. In one alleged injury incident, the complainant and her 10 year old son were cut by glass fragments."

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Euro-spec Ford Focus to Bring Internet Access to the Masses in 2012

The European division of Ford announced on Monday that its Sync system with MyFord Touch will feature WiFi connectivity on the new Focus starting from 2012. The infotainment system will create a password-protected WiFi hotspot inside the car allowing up to five devices to be connected. The service will be free of charge, as the in-car internet connection will use customers' existing USB modems or compatible smartphones to access the web. Read more »

Ford Says F-150 Orders with EcoBoost V6 on the Rise

With gas prices on the rise again, an increasing number of Ford F-150 buyers looking to save some (let’s not get carried away here…) cash at the pump without compromising on power are turning to the company’s new EcoBoost turbocharged V6 engine. According to Ford, demand for the EcoBoost engine in the F-150 has increased each month since production began in January. In March, one in every four (25%) models sold in the States was equipped with the force-fed V6, increasing to around 35 percent in April. Read more »

Celebrating 50 Years of Queensland’s Lakeside Park [with Gallery]

Nestled somewhat innocuously behind a golf course in Pine Rivers Shire, South East Queensland, Australia, is historic Lakeside Park Raceway. It holds the distinction as the Queensland’s first permanent, purpose-built racetrack and has sat - for fifty years - on the banks of Lake Kurwongbah. It is a monument to both motorsport and Australia’s can-do attitude, having been built on a foundation of favors, borrowed equipment and volunteer labor - not to mention a former dairy farm.

It is 2.4 km (1.5 miles) of bitumen and yet, it is so much more. Several Aussie motorsport legends – including Dick Johnson, Tony Longhurst and Mick Doohan – cut their teeth at Lakeside. It may not share the prestige or recognition afforded to other tracks like Mount Panorama or Philip Island, but to those who know it Lakeside is just as beloved.

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Steam Whistle Brewery’s “Retro Electro” Injects Some Green Cred into Some Detroit Old Iron

When I say, “Electric Pickup,” you no doubt think of either the Ssangyong Actyon Sports-derived Phoenix SUT or one of those toy-like, Chinese-built neighborhood electric vehicles. What you may not think of is a bright green 1958 Chevy Apache owed by Canada’s Steam Whistle Brewery and recharged via wind power.

No, this isn’t a late April Fool’s Day joke: this is serious. And being green is serious business for Steam Whistle, which – among other things – uses renewable energy, recycles damn-near everything and supports various environmental causes as a sideline to its beer brewing enterprise.

Brewery manager Mike Kiraly came up with the idea of electrifying the ol’ girl and even uses it as his daily driver. He explains his brainwave: “What if we could take a sexy vintage ride, save it from the metal scrap heap and outfit it with a zero-tailpipe-emissions engine. Old-school style combined with a modern conscience.”

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2013 Ford Taurus Receives Facelift, Plus New 237HP 2.0-liter Four-Pot and Updated 290HP 3.5-liter V6

The New York Auto Show will welcome the world premiere of Ford’s updated for the 2013 model year, Taurus. For those of you that want the short story, Ford’s chubby-looking mid-size model receives a minor exterior makeover, a redesigned dashboard and improved materials inside, plus changes to the engine lineup that include the introduction of a new 2.0-liter turbocharged four banger.

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