OAK PARK, Mich. – Azure Dynamics Corporation, a world leader in the development and production of hybrid electric and electric components and powertrain systems for commercial vehicles, announced an agreement with Ford whereby Azure will integrate its proprietary plug-in hybrid (“PHEV”) technology into the market leading Ford F-Series Super Duty product line.

In collaboration with Ford, Azure’s plug-in hybrid technology will be initially integrated on Ford’s market leading F-Series Super Duty cab and chassis, the F-550, which is expected to be available in early 2013. The agreement also allows Azure to perform hybrid powertrain conversions on other Super Duty platforms including F-350 and F-450 models and spans all engine, frame length and regular production options and configurations. The Super Duty program will allow Azure to further expand its product line-up in its targeted medium duty commercial truck segment.

The Azure/Ford agreement includes a ‘ship-thru’ provision that permits Azure to place vehicles in the Ford transportation system and allows qualified Ford Commercial Truck dealerships to sell and service the product in key markets in North America.

“We are extremely pleased to expand our relationship with Ford and launch our PHEV technology on the F-Series Super Duty platform, which is the largest and most successful cab and chassis brand in North America,” said Scott Harrison, Azure’s CEO. “This is an ideal outcome for Azure and our customers.”

With more than a 50% market share, the Ford F-Series Super Duty is the most established cab and chassis brand in the North American market. The commercial cab and chassis industry supports approximately 100,000 vehicles per year and is the preferred active work-truck for thousands of commercial fleets managing a broad range of logistical needs. The Super Duty offers several diesel and gasoline engine options and a variety of cab, bed and accessories options.

Collaboration builds on existing business relationship
Azure and Ford teamed up in 2009 to bring the innovative Transit Connect Electric to market in just 13 months after the program was first announced. The new PHEV F-Series program further expands the Azure/Ford business relationship which, in addition to the Transit Connect Electric, also markets the E-450 BalanceTM Hybrid Electric Step Van and Shuttle Bus.

“As interest in alternative energy products continues to grow, consumers are looking for more powertrain options that are both environmentally friendly and fit their driving needs,” said Rob Stevens, Commercial Vehicle Chief Engineer, Ford Motor Company. “The flexibility of our vehicle platforms and chassis allows Ford to develop our own alternative fuel products or work with partners, like Azure Dynamics, to deliver consumers with the power of choice when purchasing a greener, more fuel efficient vehicle.”

Prior to the Transit Connect Electric development, Azure and Ford collaborated on the E-450 cutaway and strip chassis to create the BalanceTM Hybrid Electric, a truck or shuttle that achieves up to 40% fuel improvement while reducing emissions and maintenance costs by up to 30% each. BalanceTM Hybrid Electric has 60% share in the medium duty (class 2c – V) hybrid commercial truck market in North America and is deployed in notable fleets like AT&T, CINTAS, DHL, FedEx Express, and Purolator to name a few.

Market Outlook
It is expected that the cab and chassis market could grow by as much as 50% over the next five years as fleet operators, who have delayed purchase decisions, return to market to replace aging inventory. Interest in fuel efficient cab and chassis alternatives has never been greater due to rising and unpredictable fuel costs.

Moreover, enthusiasm for eco-friendly technologies that began with the largest national commercial fleets, is spreading to smaller, regional fleets that increasingly understand that alternative energy technologies do not require a sacrifice in performance or durability. The Ford F-Series Super Duty has already attracted legions of loyal customers, many of whom are enthusiastic about the performance benefits associated with the new PHEV option.

“The F-Series program aligns perfectly with our product development strategy,” said Harrison. “We’re able to focus on development and integration of our powertrain solutions and at the same time benefit from Ford’s expertise in building ground-up vehicle platforms keeping Azure’s capital costs in check.”

“Our engineering team has proven the flexibility of our technology through more than 40 different vehicle integrations and 35,000,000 miles of real world driving experience. We’ve been searching for the right opportunity and knew we could move quickly and intelligently when we found it. We feel strongly that the Ford F-Series program is exactly the right opportunity.”
www.sherwoodford.ca

DEARBORN - Ford and Recycled Polymeric Materials (RPM) have found a way to put discarded tires to good use. By combining recycled tires with bio-renewable content, they are delivering environmentally friendly seals and gaskets for Ford Motor Company vehicles.



The gaskets and seals are derived from 25 percent post-consumer, recycled tire particulate and 17 percent bio-renewable content from soy.

In total, more than 2.2 million pounds of rubber from recycled tires has been made into RPM seals and gaskets and more than 210,000 used tires have been recycled. Additionally, 150,000 pounds of soy has been used to create the materials.

The seals also offer a weight savings, with more than 1,675 tons of weight removed from Ford vehicles on the road.

“When it comes to finding a way to use more renewable and recyclable content, Ford and our suppliers are looking at every part of a vehicle,” said Dr. Cynthia Flanigan, technical leader, Research and Innovation. “As long as an application meets our strict quality and performance standards, we’ll strive to get these sustainable materials on our vehicles."

The sustainable gaskets were first introduced to Ford in 2008, and have now expanded to include 11 vehicles.

Ford Motor Company vehicles that feature the sustainable seals and gaskets include:
•Ford Escape
•Ford F-150
•Ford F-250
•Ford F-350
•Ford Fiesta
•Ford Flex
•Ford Focus
•Ford Mustang
•Ford Taurus
•Ford Transit Connect
•Lincoln MKS


Eco-friendly solutions
Ford’s “Reduce, reuse and recycle” commitment is part of the company’s broader global sustainability strategy to reduce its environmental footprint while at the same time accelerating the development of advanced, fuel-efficient vehicle technologies around the world.

Over the past several years Ford has concentrated on increasing the use of recycled plastics and bio-based materials whenever possible, provided these materials are environmentally favorable and meet all durability and performance requirements. Examples include soy foam seat cushions, wheat straw-filled plastic, recycled resins for underbody systems, recycled yarns on seat covers and natural-fiber plastic for interior components.

“Our team continues to develop new technologies that reduce our environmental footprint,” said Dr. Debbie Mielewski, technical leader, Plastics. “We have already been successful in incorporating soy foam seats on all North American vehicles and are actively expanding the research front into a variety of new plastics and rubber areas.”

By Chris Kassab

DEARBORN - Ford is the first automaker in North America to use a state-of-the-art tool called an exterior microphone array system for aeroacoustic vehicle wind testing.

The tool – an apparatus equipped with a camera and dozens of highly sensitive microphones – will be used in Ford’s Wind Tunnel 8, which recently marked its 10th anniversary.

The system will enable engineers to measure exterior noise sources on a vehicle much earlier in the production process when the car or truck is still in the clay model phase. Ford engineers typically utilize Aachen Heads – mannequins with microphones in the ears that record and measure the sounds of the vehicle at various speeds – in vehicle testing but Aachen Heads cannot be put inside vehicles that are made of clay.

“Our approach before was to mock up the exterior shape of a current product to make it look like the future vehicle,” explained Bill Gulker, supervisor, Ford Interior Quietness Engineering. “But our ability to do that accurately had many limitations, and the testing process involved a lot of trial and error to isolate the sources of unwanted noise.”

Using the new system, engineers will be able to measure and actually “see” noise coming off the clay model exterior in a very precise way.

“An image that most people are familiar with is a satellite weather map. It will look just like that but instead of a map as a background you will see a computerized image of the car with red or green spots indicating noise or quiet areas,” explained Gulker. “We will be able to pinpoint exactly where the noise is coming from and resolve the problem much earlier on in the product development process.”

Gulker says the new technology will save Ford hundreds of hours of wind tunnel testing as well as thousands of dollars in testing costs each year.

“There will be no time wasted with trial and error,” he said. “The system will tell us in a very efficient way what exterior areas of the vehicle we need to work on to optimize a vehicle for wind noise.”

The detailed flow information from the system also will enable engineers to bring computer simulations online faster, which ultimately reduce reliance on costly wind tunnel testing.

(Stategic Vision Press Release) Product Innovation And “Love,” Increases Quality Perception and Sales
.

DETROIT - Below is the Reuters story on Strategic Vision's quality survey that was released on Tuesday, July 12, 2011.


(Reuters) Less than a month after Ford Motor Co. was impacted in one quality survey, a second survey has ranked it the No. 2 highest-quality U.S. automaker.


The second survey, released by Strategic Vision Inc on Tuesday, said that customers' overall feeling about their vehicles is more important than particular problems.


Ford owners reported more problems with their vehicles than the industry average, but rated the overall quality of the vehicles highly, according to the survey. They were particularly happy with the Ford Mustang coupe and convertible, the Flex, and the F-150 and 250/350 pickup trucks.


"People think of quality in a very different sense than just counting problems," said Christopher Chaney, a Strategic Vision vice president in charge of automotive research.



A company's use of new technology or styling can also play important roles, he said.



On a statistical basis, Ford tied with American Honda Corp and Nissan Motor Corp in for the No. 2 ranking. Still, Ford fared better in the Strategic Vision study than it did in a survey by J.D. Power and Associates last month, where it fell to 23rd place, its lowest ranking in a decade. The J.D. Power survey records difficulties faced by new car owners in the first 90 days of ownership.


Ford, the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy and a government bailout during the financial crisis, has recently been criticized for a clunky control system for its radios and difficult-to-use technology.


The Strategic Vision survey asks car owners to rate all aspects of ownership, from the process of buying a vehicle to its performance. The 2011 survey included 37,069 buyers of 2011 vehicles from September to December 2010. This is the sixteenth year of the survey, which is paid for by manufacturers.



Surveys like the Strategic Vision survey and the J.D. Power survey that attempt to gauge consumer sentiment are key pieces of industry marketing materials and help shape consumer opinion. They also help set resale values and warranty costs.



The idea that a car owner's overall experience could trump minor problems with a vehicle rests on the premise that there are few serious problems, those problems are typically fixed immediately at the dealership, and styling details can have significant impact, according to the survey.


Besides Ford, Volkswagen of America and Hyundai Motor America have also benefited from this, according to the survey.


On average, 30 percent of owners reported problems with Volkswagen's Jetta and Hyundai's Sonata, compared with 22 percent of owners reporting problems for all mid-size cars. Even so, the 2011 models of both vehicles had record sales, according to the survey. The higher incidence of problems didn't matter because Jetta and Sonata owners were happy with their overall purchase, according to the survey.


Volkswagen was the top-ranked car company in the survey, helped by its Golf, Jetta and Tiguan models. Hyundai ranked 8th -- last place -- because some of its non-Sonata models were poorly received and the period of the survey excluded some new models, Chaney said. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin, editing by Bernard Orr)

A tremendous video on what Alan Mullally did to transform the Ford Motor Company. . .
He explains how he rebranded and created ONE FORD

http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/7217

A very interesting video worth watching

By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY
Updated 9h 7m ago

Ford CEO Alan Mulally joins host David Letterman on the set of the Late Show with David Letterman last night in this photo provided by CBS
CAPTIONBy John Paul Filo, APFord CEO Alan Mulally sounded more like he was in a job interview than on a TV talker when he showed up on the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS last night.

Letterman pretty much went through Mulally's whole resume, from growing up mowing lawns and bagging groceries (like Letterman) before going to Boeing where Letterman had him list every plane that he helped develop (707, 727, 737...) Heck, we didn't know the 777 had 4 million parts.

When he finally got back to talking about cars, Mulally didn't say a whole lot. Letterman credited him with "rescuing Ford from the brink of bankruptcy." Mulally got his biggest hand when Dave noted that Ford pulled through without taking a government handout.

Then, for the big climax, Letterman and Mulally drove a few feet across the stage in the new electric Focus coming from Ford. Mulally demurred on the price, but noted it will go 80 miles between recharges. Letterman said he has already bought two electric cars, and lamented that "neither one are American brands."

Mulally didn't let a good opportunity for plug go by when it came to that new plug-in Focus, which isn't on sale yet. "Drive one, Dave," Mulally said. "Feel the difference."

by Zach Bowman, Autoblog (RSS feed) on Aug 1st 2011 at 4:01PM



The 2012 Ford Edge is set to be available with a four-cylinder EcoBoost power with the addition of a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine, and reports are emerging that the vehicle will be able to return some fairly impressive fuel economy numbers. According to Ford Inside News, the Environmental Protection Agency has concluded testing, and the Edge 2.0 EcoBoost has managed to eek out 7.8 litres for every 100 highway kilometres traveled. That's a 0.9L/100km improvement over the comparable 3.5-litre V6-equipped 2011 model and 0.6L/100km better than the Explorer 2.0-litre EcoBoost, whose 8.4L/100km highway figure was just made official last week.

Ford Inside News also reports that the engine will continue to turn out 240 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque when tucked into the Edge. While we're betting that our right foot will likely miss the extra 45 horsepower produced by the 3.5-litre V6, the extra 22 pound-feet of torque mustered up by the forced-induction four-cylinder should help make up the gap. Our wallets probably won't mind skipping the gas station a little more often, too.

By
Sam Haymart
Published: August 3, 2011Tags: 2012, 50-state, California, CARB, EPA, Mustang, roush, roushcharger, rs3, stage 3



Roush has been selling a lot of their new 540hp 2012 Stage 3 Mustangs this year, based on the 5.0 liter Coyote V8. The combination of the intercooled ROUSHcharger not only puts down a healthy and warranty covered 540hp but also a stump pulling 465 lbs of torque.

The only bummer has been that the Roush Stage 3 (RS3) has not been available in all 50 states, until now. Roush has announced that they have finally gotten through all the greenie government red tape with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and gained approval to sell the RS3 in all of America.

That means that the 2012 RS3 is now rolling toward California dealerships among other places that also abide by the state’s nut-job requirements.

“This is certainly exciting news for ROUSH Performance, our Dealers and Mustang enthusiasts,” says Gary Jurick, VP/General Manager of ROUSH Performance. “Our engineering teams worked closely with various government agencies throughout the entire emissions testing process to receive final approvals. The 2012 RS3 offers ROUSHcharged performance, handling and styling while also complying with all of the federal emissions requirements. We’re now in the process of working with our Dealers in all 50 states on their RS3 vehicle ordering needs.”

By Alan Harman
WardsAuto.com, Jul 21, 2011 9:37 AM



University of Toronto researchers say they’ve developed a new solar cell that auto makers could use in coatings designed to efficiently and economically convert sunlight into electricity for electric vehicles.

Ted Sargent, professor of electrical and computer engineering, says his team has developed the first efficient tandem solar cell based on colloidal-quantum dots.



CQD are nanoscale materials that can be tuned to respond to specific wavelengths of the visible- and invisible-light spectrum.

“We have known for a while that colloidal-quantum dots offer the capability to make a solar cell that makes the very best use of both the visible and the infrared light contained in the sun’s broad spectrum,” Sargent says in a statement.

“We knew the way to do that is to make a visible (light) semiconductor and stack it with an infrared (light) semiconductor.

“What we haven’t known until now is how to do that stacking – how to make a layer that connects together the bottom visible cell and the top infrared cell in a way that is efficient and doesn’t produce any damage to any of those layers.”

Sargent says his research team devised an interface between the visible and infrared junction they call a graded recombination layer. It allows the production of tandem and, ultimately, multijunction solar cells based on CQD.

“The team engineered a cascade – really, a waterfall – of nanometers-thick materials to shuttle electrons between the visible and infrared layers,” Sargent says.



Ted Sargent leads University of Toronto researchers in developing sunlight-harvesting solar cells for use in electric vehicles.

The result is a stack of two light-absorbing layers: one tuned to capture the sun's visible rays; the other engineered to collect the half of the sun's energy that lies in the infrared.

Sargent hopes that within five years solar cells using the graded recombination layer will be integrated into products including automobile parts.

“The rapid emergence of electric vehicles further raises the value of harvesting electrical power from the sun in automobiles,” he tells Ward’s in an email. “Even a modest amount of collected solar power can extend range an attractive 10% to 20%.

“Our work towards efficient, flexible tandem solar cells offers the potential to integrate solar-energy-harvesting materials with automobile parts. It enables integration of the solar cells into the form factor of the automobile parts by virtue of the physical flexibility – the conformability – of our materials.”

By capturing a range of light waves broader than those collected by normal solar cells, tandem-CQD solar cells can in principle reach up to 42% efficiency. The best single-junction solar cells reach no more than 31% efficiency, he explains. Solar cells on the roofs of houses and in consumer products have 14% to 18% efficiency.

“This advance lights up a practical path to engineering high-efficiency solar cells that make the best use of the diverse photons making up the sun's broad palette,” Sargent says.

“People sometimes informally call this a paint-on solar cell, because the materials out of which all our solar cells are made are synthesized in solution. So we make essentially a paint that consists of semiconductor particles dispersed in a solvent the way paint is.”

“We apply them simply by coating them on a solid substrate, letting the solvent dry and evaporate, and we are left with a thin solid film

This approach of making solar cells at room temperature under ambient conditions, just using basically coating technologies, enables a much lower cost structure for solar cells, he says.

Making the solar cells with these solutions means they can be put on a flexible substrate.

“One of the advantages of the method of manufacturing on a flexible substrate is it’s kind of like printing newspaper, so you have the potential to make large-area solar cells,” Sargent says.

“In addition, once you have made it on a flexible material now you have a conformable substrate. You have a solar-harvesting material that you can integrate into the form factor of parts of your car.”

By Jim Mateja
WardsAuto.com, Jul 20, 2011 9:07 AM




CHICAGO – Vehicles soon will use Wi-Fi and GPS to talk to one another to warn of potential problems, from a pending collision that endangers their safety to congestion ahead that hampers fuel economy, a top engineer says.

“It's about five to 10 years away,” says Ford Chief Technology Officer Paul Mascarenas, “and is a natural progression from the systems we have today that warn when a vehicle enters your blind spot, crosses the path behind when backing up, or slows down in the road ahead of you.”



Mascarenas says the intelligent car of the future will make highways safer by warning the driver when another car five vehicles ahead is braking and in danger of setting off a potential chain reaction collision.

It also will be on the alert for a vehicle that is about to run a red light as your car approaches an intersection and look out for oncoming vehicles when you pull out to pass an 18-wheeler on the highway.

“Cars will be so intelligent they'll even be able to locate a parking space for you before you even leave and reserve the space for you when you get there,” he says.

What won't intelligent cars be able to do?

“They won't be able to fly,” he says smiling, but after a brief pause as if to reconsider, adds, “yet the possibilities are endless. The goal is to make whatever technology we add to cars not be complex, but rather be meaningful, relevant and affordable.”

Mascarenas gives a demonstration of the current state of intelligent autos to the Midwest Automotive Media Assn. here.




Ford Explorer equipped with Wi-Fi, GPs emits loud beeps to warn driver of pending collision.

Ford Explorer SUVs equipped with Wi-Fi and GPS roam a parking lot course where Ford Fiestas attempt to stop ahead of them, cross their path at speed or suddenly appear from behind a parked semi without warning. In all cases, the Explorer emits a series of loud beeps to give the driver ample warning and time to brake.

“The system is intuitive. There are no dials to turn or buttons to push. And for now, there is no vehicle intervention, either braking or slowing down on its own without the driver having to do it,” Mascarenas says, though such intervention could be added later.

While the intelligent car primarily is designed to make roads safer, he says that by warning of congestion ahead in time to reroute travel, motorists would save hours of needless time idling on highways and countless gallons of gas.

One potential problem, Mascarenas says, is consumer fear the government or law enforcement might use the system to monitor driving or keep tabs on where motorists are.


“There should be no fear of ‘Big Brotherism. There will be less information available in the cars than in the cell phones people carry with them. Information won't be stored or exchanged. The car won't tattle on you.”

All major auto makers are involved in a consortium to create intelligent cars, he says, because “it would do no good if Fords only talked to Fords and not to Toyotas as well.”

Chrysler was involved with the consortium when controlled by Daimler-Benz and is expected to rejoin now that it is part of Fiat.

Mascarenas says no price has been put on the intelligent-car system.

By Byron Pope
WardsAuto.com, Jul 5, 2011 8:57 AM v


www.sherwoodford.ca

There is a good chance Fords quest for technological leadership will lead it to make adaptive cruise control available across its global vehicle lineup.
Electronically scanning radar, a key enabler of adaptive cruise control, recently debuted as an option on the Ford Focus in Europe, and supplier Delphi says the move positions the auto maker as the first to extend the benefits of (its) ESR to a broader market.

v i While the technology is not new, it mostly has been relegated to higher-cost vehicles. Introducing the system to a C-segment vehicle such as the Focus is a sign of things to come, says Mike Thoeny, global engineering director-electronic controls for Delphi Electronics & Safety.
I think youre really going to see the market take off as the technology becomes less expensive as volumes increase,� he tells Wards.
Since Delphi launched its first ESR system in 1999, the cost of the technology has come down some tenfold, he says.
The system utilized on the European Focus automatically keeps the car at a predetermined distance from the vehicle ahead and will notify the driver and pre-charge the brakes, if a collision is considered imminent.
It is slightly less expensive than similar systems Delphi sells to high-end customers such as Jaguar Land Rover, he says, noting the Ford setup uses only one long-beam radar compared with the twin-beam configuration employed on pricier vehicles.

Ford now offers adaptive cruise control on European Focus.
The system costs &$1,204) in the U.K. and E945 ($1,363) in Germany.
;It&s a lower-cost version, but has same level of accuracy,; Thoeny says, noting the more expensive device enables the vehicle to stop automatically, unlike the Focus system.
However, a similar system already is offered on the Taurus fullsize sedan in North America, and the auto makers ;One Ford; strategy emphasizes component sharing across its global lineup.
The adaptive cruise control isnt available on the U.S.-market Focus, at least for now. Hall says while the North American Focus is nearly identical to its European counterpart, its considered an upscale family sedan in Europe and a compact, affordable; car on this side of the Atlantic.
So there will be some equipment differences to accommodate what the target customer is looking for and will value,he tells Wards. But were still working on migrating some technologies globally, and there will probably be instances of technology, such as this, migrating the opposite way due to the fact that those technologies were first introduced in those markets.
Thoeny says he foresees a day when such radar-based safety systems are as commonplace as airbags, which he says have plateaued in their ability to drive down fatality rates.
According to Delphi research, 6,000 of the 33,000 traffic-related fatalities in the U.S. last year could have been avoided had radar-based systems been installed on the vehicles involved.
Related Stories
Auto Makers, Suppliers Gear Up to Make Small Cars Safer
Active Safety Technology No Excuse for Poor Driving

Ford spokesman Alan Hall declines to reveal specific plans for a rollout beyond the European Focus.
Insurance companies are taking notice of the benefits provided by such systems, Thoeny says.
In Europe, the insurance industry is offering incentives for consumers to buy these technologies,he says. And here in the U.S., theres a lot of data being collected and studies to prove accidents can be prevented.
Other steps toward the widespread implementation of such systems have already begun, Thoeny adds, pointing out the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. is factoring in availability of ESR in determining its New Car Assessment Program safety ratings for 11 models.

bpope@wardsauto.com

DEARBORN - When he founded Ford Motor Company in June 1903, Henry Ford had big dreams and ambitions for what he thought the company would accomplish.

One hundred and eight years later, Ford reflects upon just a few ways the company has impacted the lives of not only its investors, employees and customers, but the rest of the world as well.

A living wage
Prior to the implementation of the U.S. $5 daily wage, autoworkers made an average of $2.34 per day with them standard nine-hour shift.

Henry Ford changed all of that on Jan. 12, 1914, when his new profit-sharing program went into effect and he altered the plant shifts from two nine-hour shifts to three eighthour shifts.

Autoworkers called Ford Motor Company, “The greatest and most successful automobile manufacturing company in the world.” They now worked shorter shifts for double the income. Employee morale rose dramatically, turnover rates dropped and production increased.

This revolutionary program is credited with raising the standard of living of autoworkers to the point where they could afford to purchase the automobiles they were producing, thereby expanding the middle class to an unprecedented size.

Putting the world on wheels
When Henry Ford stated, “I will build a motor car for the great multitude,” his intent was to have this car be affordable to all and easy to operate.

He succeeded beyond expectations with the development of the Model T, which first shipped on Oct. 1, 1908 and was known as the “World Car.” In its almost 19 years of production, the Model T would sell more than 15 million models in nine bodystyles.

It was introduced with a price tag of $850, but the efficiencies of the moving assembly line would create production savings that Henry Ford passed on to customers. The Model T was sold for as low as $260 in 1924.

By the end of 1913, the Model T accounted for nearly half of the automobiles sold in the United States, and by the early 1920s, more than half of the registered automobiles in the world were Fords. The Model T truly put the world on wheels.

The pony car
Launched at the New York World’s Fair on April 17, 1964, the Mustang forever changed the landscape of the American highway.

As one of the most recognizable vehicles in the world, the Mustang sold 417,000 vehicles in its first year, and has gone on to sell more than 8 million vehicles in the past 47 years.

This pony car was designed in the early 1960s to appeal to the post-World War II baby boomer generation, and has become a cultural icon having appeared in numerous movies. Additionally, the pony car has inspired many songs and books through the decades.

Available as a two-door hardtop or convertible, the Mustang’s long sweeping hood and short rear deck, along with its silver galloping emblem, can be seen in private collections and museums around the world, including The Henry Ford and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Mass production for all
Although Henry Ford did not invent the moving assembly line, he certainly perfected this method of mass production.

Prior to the installation of a moving assembly line at Ford’s Highland Park Plant, runners would bring necessary parts to autoworkers all over the facility, which was 50,000 square feet spread over 6 acres. This was a slow and tedious process that caused downtime and frequent production delays.

In early 1913, experiments began with small assembly lines, and by October of that year the first vehicle assembly line was operating, which allowed Ford to dramatically cut production times. By January 1914, a more permanent moving assembly line was in place at Highland Park, also known as the Crystal Palace, and Model Ts were rolling off the line at unprecedented rates.

The modern assembly line is utilized in all types of manufacturing today, allowing the efficient production of goods.

Supporting the community
The Ford family’s history of philanthropy dates back to 1936, when they established the Ford Foundation, a charitable institution separate from the company. In 1949, Henry Ford II established the Ford Motor Company Fund.

The Ford Fund is a nonprofit corporation supported primarily by contributions from the company and, in the past six decades, has contributed more than $1.3 billion to worthy organizations and projects dedicated to education and innovation.

This spirit of giving back to the communities in which we live continues today with MODEL Teams events and Accelerated Action Days, where employees are permitted paid time off to volunteer and to have a positive impact on the lives of others.

A legacy continues
These are just a few of the ways Ford, during its first century of operation, has impacted the world. Arguments can be made for the influence of other innovations, products and changes that Ford has developed. However, as the company moves forward in its second century, it continues a historic legacy through a focus on safety, quality, technology and the environment.

DEARBORN – When the mercury starts to rise, people have all sorts of ways for cooling themselves down: sprinklers, lemonade and ice cream all come to mind. But the engineers at Ford have developed a system that cools the lithium-ion battery in the all-new Focus Electric and keeps it working at its prime, even in the hottest of conditions.

Extreme temperatures can affect an electric vehicle’s battery performance and reduce its range. That’s why Ford will use an advanced active liquid-cooling and heating system to regulate the temperature of its lithium-ion battery packs, which are designed to operate under a range of ambient conditions.

“If the battery became too hot, we would have to limit the use of energy to protect it. The liquid cooled system allows us to reduce those constraints and get the most out of the battery,” said Dave Fabricatore, Thermal Program Management team engineer. “We’re helping owners by making sure their battery is always ready to go regardless of the weather.”

How it works
The vehicle uses an integrated cooling system to keep the different systems in the vehicle at their optimal operating temperatures. The air conditioning system is actually used to refrigerate the coolant going to the battery using a “chiller,” so as the coolant passes through the chiller, it’s brought down to the temperature that the battery requires. Temperature sensors placed all over the vehicle let the cooling system know when it needs to kick into action.

The cooling system can even work when the car is charging, so it can help reduce the charge time in hot climates because the battery will be kept at a desirable temperature.

“Batteries can heat up when they’re charging or being used, and it’s made worse by ambient temperatures,” said Fabricatore. “Controlling the temperature lets us deliver the best range and power for the customer, while improving the longevity of the battery.”

Focus Electric will launch in late 2011 in 19 pilot markets. The liquid cooled battery system will serve as another distinct advantage the Focus Electric will have over other air-cooled all-electric vehicles, especially in the warmer initial launch markets. These warmer weather pilot markets include: Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orlando, Fla., Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., Raleigh-Durham, N.C. and Richmond, Va.

The power of choice
Electrification is an important piece of Ford’s overall product sustainability strategy, which includes the launch of five electrified vehicles in North America by 2012 and in Europe by 2013. Ford launched the Transit Connect Electric small commercial van in 2010 and will launch the all-new Focus Electric later this year. In 2012, these models will be joined in North America by the new C-MAX Hybrid, a second next-generation lithium-ion battery hybrid and C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid. This diverse range of electrified vehicles allows Ford to meet a variety of consumer driving needs.

By Chris Kassab

DEARBORN - Ford Motor Company dethroned Toyota as the 2011 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Full Line Automotive Brand of the Year earlier this year, and the crystal trophy was presented to the company Monday at the Product Development Center in Dearborn.

“This award is a huge acknowledgement of the way we’ve gone to market in the last couple of years and of how our employees, suppliers, dealers and customers feel about the brand,” said Jim Farley, group vice president, Ford Global Marketing, Sales and Service, who accepted the award on Ford’s behalf. “It’s also a great acknowledgement of all the work that all the people at Ford have been doing in the toughest of times, and I think it gets us excited to do even more.”

The Harris Poll EquiTrend study evaluates measures including Equity, Consumer Connection, Commitment, Brand Behavior, Brand Advocacy and Trust. The 2011 study was conducted online among 25,099 U.S. consumers ages 15 and over between January 11 and 27, 2011.

By Staff Report


2011 Ford F-150 SuperCrew has been named an IIHS Top Safety Pick for models built after February 2011. Ford now has 11 vehicles on the road that have earned Top Safety Pick ratings
Ford F-150 features a number of standard safety and stability systems including Safety Canopy® side curtain airbags, AdvanceTrac® with RSC® (Roll Stability Control™), SOS Post Crash Alert System™ and trailer sway control
The Ford 3.5-liter EcoBoost™ V6 engine represented 37 percent of 2011 F-150 pickup truck sales in April; incoming F-150 EcoBoost orders tracking at more than 40 percent reflect strong consumer demand
Ford F-150 is America’s best-selling truck for 34 years

2011 Ford F-150

DEARBORN, Mich., May 12, 2011 – The 2011 Ford F-150 SuperCrew is building on Ford’s safety leadership by earning a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for models built after February 2011.

Ford now has 11 vehicles on the road in the U.S. that have earned Top Safety Picks, which adds to its leading number of top U.S. safety ratings. To earn a Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must receive a rating of “good” in offset frontal-, side- and rear-impact tests and the new roof strength evaluation, as well as offer electronic stability control.

“Safety ratings are important markers customers can use to evaluate vehicles, so we are proud Ford has the most top U.S. safety ratings of any automaker ever,” said Sue Cischke, Ford group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “The F-150’s innovative safety technologies and this new Top Safety Pick award further demonstrate Ford’s commitment to safety.”

Crash protection
New safety features for the 2011 Ford F-150 include a seat-integrated shoulder belt for the front middle seat and a head restraint for the second-row middle seat. The F-150’s standard safety features include an advanced safety structure with high-strength steel and six standard airbags.

Other standard Ford F-150 safety features include:

Dual-stage airbags for driver and front passenger
Safety Canopy® side curtain airbags
Front seat-mounted side airbags
AdvanceTrac® with RSC® (Roll Stability Control™)
Four-wheel ABS brakes
SOS Post Crash Alert System™
MyKey®
Trailer sway control
Other Ford Motor Company vehicles that have earned a Top Safety Pick rating include:

2011 Ford Edge (built after February 2011)
2011 Ford Explorer
2011 Ford Taurus
2011 Ford Fusion
2011 Ford Fiesta (built after July 2010)
2011 Ford Flex
2011 Lincoln MKS
2011 Lincoln MKT
2011 Lincoln MKX (built after February 2011)
2011 Lincoln MKZ
Sales momentum
The F-Series was the best-selling truck in America for the 34th year in a row and the best-selling vehicle – car or truck – for the 29th year in a row.

Demand for the fuel-efficient EcoBoost engine in the F-150 has increased each month since launch. One in four Ford F-150 pickups sold in March was powered by a 3.5-liter EcoBoost™ V6. In April, EcoBoost F-150 sales ran at about 37 percent. In the F-150, the EcoBoost engine with its 365 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft. of torque provides best-in-class towing capability of 11,300 pounds combined with up to 20 percent fuel economy savings.