Ford Flex is for those needing a bigger people-hauler | detnews.com | The Detroit News
There's something about the 2010 Ford Flex. Entering its second model year, the Flex is Ford's answer to people who need a big people hauler. It stretches more than 200 inches and can carry up to seven people, depending upon how it's configured. Though I would suggest selecting the captain's chairs for the second row because they are so comfortable. For the vehicles it replaces -- the minivan and Taurus X the crossover formerly known as the Freestyle -- the Flex offers a much more stylish solution. But...

Tire tariff jolts Ford supplier | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Few things scream "American" louder than Ford Motor Co.'s F-series pickup, but some models of the best-selling vehicle in the United States sport tires made in China. And that means Chinese tire makers are not the only ones scrambling in the wake of President Barack Obama's new tariffs. Hankook Tire supplies the base tires for the Ford F-150. It is not a Chinese company, but a Korean manufacturer with factories in China. That still means that tires produced at those facilities, including those for the...

Ford vies for Sync patents | detnews.com | The Detroit News
--A man that Ford Motor Co. once called "a lead architect" of Sync has left the company, raising serious questions about who owns intellectual property vital to the popular voice-controlled infotainment system it developed in conjunction with Microsoft Corp. Now, rival automakers are lining up to talk to Joseph Berry. So is Ford, which tried to get the telematics expert to sign off on several patents -- after he was terminated in late July. Berry says he is "happy to license" the technology to Ford, but...

Ford alters stock option to protect tax benefits | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Ford Motor Co. on Friday announced new steps aimed at protecting $19 billion in company tax benefits. U.S. tax laws allow companies to defer the tax benefits of operating losses, capital losses and tax credits to offset future profits. However, those benefits go away if there is a substantial change in a company's ownership. The move does not affect most shareholders. The rules were established to keep profitable companies from buying out unprofitable firms solely to take advantage of their tax...

Ford endorses bill to ban hand-held text messaging while driving | detnews.com | The Detroit News
-- Ford Motor Co. endorsed a bill in Congress Thursday to ban hand-held text messaging while driving. A Senate version, sponsored by Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., would withhold highway funding to states that didn't adopt a ban. Peter Lawson, Ford's vice president for government relations, said in an interview the Dearborn automaker was endorsing the Schumer bill that he called a "common-sense measure." The bill would not prohibit people from using Ford's Sync system or other systems to send hands-free...

UAW a hard sell for Ford | detnews.com | The Detroit News
As talks between Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers continue, the automaker's top labor negotiator expressed confidence that Ford will not be left at a competitive disadvantage versus its cross-town rivals. However, others familiar with the situation say those talks are being bogged down by one fact: Ford is doing a lot better than General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, making it hard for union leaders to sell their members on additional concessions. Both GM and Chrysler won significant...

Ford offers max appeal | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Ford Motor Co. will unveil the first of many models that will be built on its new, compact-car underpinnings this month at the Frankfurt Motor Show Based on the Ford iosis Max concept displayed earlier this year at the Geneva car show, the all-new C-Max is roomier and more stylish than the vehicle it replaces. It will debut in Frankfurt Sept. 15, and is scheduled to roll into Ford of Europe showrooms in the second half of 2010. Ford is likely to bring a variant of the model, called a multipurpose...

Ford's 2010 Transit Connect means business | detnews.com | The Detroit News
The recession is over, and I've got proof. While many "experts" will point to the GDP, unemployment figures and the trade deficit, I'm more of a believer of those tangible products that predict our nation's financial plight. Sales of cardboard boxes, diamonds and lipstick have been monitored in the past and could work today. Future economic soothsayers will gaze into their Magic 8 Balls and use the Ford Transit Connect sales numbers as a barometer of the nation's small business health. To paraphrase a...

Ford Increases Truck Production
It seems that Cash for Clunkers really pulled automakers out of economic troubles and low sales. The manufacturers do not worry any more about sales and are counting the great profits after the program. Ford is so excited about big auto sales that it decided to increase the production by adding shifts to the truck plants in Missouri and Michigan. The changes will start this fall. At first the company plans to restore the three-shift operation at the truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan to increase the...

Ford to cops: Crown Vic is out | detnews.com | The Detroit News
-- In June, Ford Motor Co. invited the heads of some of the nation's largest police fleets to Dearborn to talk about the future of police cars. For nearly two decades, that market has belonged to Ford's Crown Victoria -- a vehicle that departments from coast to coast have come to respect for its toughness and reliability. Now the Crown Vic is running out of road. "They told us that 2011 would be the last year they build the Crown Vic," said Larry Tagawa, commander of the Los Angeles Police Department's...