In the midst of revealing the new 2011 Ford Explorer, Alan Mulally stopped by to talk Ford with Jim Cramer. Jim asks Alan about all of the happenings at Ford, what Ford has been doing to get out of the economic hole and what it’s doing to continue the upward momentum. What a great interview – take a look at the video.

Ford revealed the new 2011 Explorer yesterday throughout the US – from Venice Beach in Los Angeles, to Detroit (D-town!), and to New York City!

The new Explorer looks awesome – inside you’ll find a beautifully crafted and supple interior and outside you’ll find an exciting and sporty exterior. The vehicle comes with features galore, including an optional 4-cylinder, 2.0 liter, Ecoboost engine which will offer a 30% fuel economy improvement over the outgoing model’s V6. It even has an exclusive Terrain Management system which allows you to easily dial-in which type of terrain you’re traversing.

Ford setup a website for the new Explorer, and you can price yours out here.

I built mine in black, with a black grill, sweet! I outfitted mine with 20″ chrome rims, crossbars for my skis, and dual headrests LCD screens with all of the connection goodies so that I can hook up my PC and play Starcraft 2 while being chauffeured through the Rocky Mountains. Yes!

The Detroit Free Press recently conducted a study of what kind of returns the US government can expect from saving Chrysler, General Motors, and GMAC (now known as Ally financial). The analysis concluded that of the $84 billion paid out to the companies, US taxpayers might get back $74 billion. Currently, $18.3 billion has been paid back, which includes interest, debt, and dividends. The likelihood of the repayment has been increased due to the rebounding car sales, in addition to the companies’ increased profits.

Currently, the US government owns approximately 60.8 percent of General Motors, which is valued at approximately $51 billion as of Monday – this makes the government’s stake worth $26.3 billion. Add the $7 billion that has been paid back and the $2.1 billion that the government owns in preferred shares, the total investment in GM is $35.5 billion, equaling a loss of $14.6 billion.

The government’s investment in Chrysler is significantly smaller compared to GM, valued at $12.8 billion. Of that, $2.5 billion has been paid back and the government owns $7.14 billion of Chrysler debt. With the company expected to be worth $13.6 billion a year from now, the government’s 9.9 percent stake in Chrysler, all of the above numbers, and some complicated math, the total loss could equal $2.4 billion.

I say that’s a pretty decent return on investment – saving millions of jobs and helping preserve the country’s manufacturing base – dare I say that the government actually made a good decision?? I’m not one to promote such intervention, but this seems like a worthwhile endeavor.

Check out the analysis by the Detroit Free Press.

I have been waiting for the new Buick Regal to hit our shores and the time has finally come.  Above is the first commercial for the new Regal, and it does a nice job of showing off the car.  Hopefully people will buy the fact that its “German” engineering means it’s a high quality car, but only time (and sales) will tell.