truth about domestics

Automobile magazine has found some interesting automotive treasures just waiting to be purchased by some lucky soul.  This treasure I speak of?  There are tons of new old Domestic cars that are available for purchase.  Vehicles like the Mercury Sable, Chevrolet Trailblazer/GMC Envoy/Saab 9-7X, and Chrysler Aspen are all available on dealership lots across the country.  Even cars as old as 2008/9 Pontiac Grand Prix are still selling even though production ended early last year.  For more details on these great automotive deals, head on over to Automobile Magazine.

(Image source: Ford)

Automobile magazine recently got the chance to sit down with Jost Capito from Ford to talk about their two different performance groups; SVT here in the States, and RS for over in Europe.  He was asked if one group or the other would be taking off the duties of creating high performance variants of Ford’s next round of automobiles.  His response was that neither SVT nor RS would be going away, and that the name for the next high performance Ford Focus was still up in the air.  This means that basically we could be seeing an SVT Focus or more likely a Focus ST and then higher-level Focus RS like they have in Europe.  Stay tuned for more, or for now head on over to Automobile magazine.

(Image source: Ford)

The Mercury brand is in some serious need of fresh product.  Every Mercury product can be currently found in a Ford dealer under a different badge name.  That could change though if reports from Automobile Magazine are to be believed.  They state that Ford is planning a variant off the new global C-car platform that will be for Mercury dealers.  The two possibilities Autoblog throws on the table are a variant off the new 2011 Ford Focus, or a car based on the Lincoln Concept C.  For more news, stay tuned!

(Image source: Mercury)

Automobile magazine named it’s list of 2009′s All-Stars and the list has some big names on it.  Cars from Audi, BMW, Porsche, and Jaguar all made the list.  The surprises are the 4 domestic cars that made the list!  The Dodge Ram 1500, Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Flex and Fusion all made the list!  This just shows you how good these cars really are!  What I can’t seem to put my finger on is which automakers are not in the 10 All-Star list…lets see…oh wow, NONE of the Japanese automakers made the list!  That’s SOO weird!  I thought their cars were the best of the best???  This surely must be a mistake.  Or the magazine just knows what true car fans know, that the Japanese cars are too boring to be All-Stars.  For more on the list, head on over to Automobile magazine.

(Image source: Automobile magazine)

If you have ever had the opportunity to hear Alan Mulally speak, then you will understand where I am coming from.  If you haven’t had the opportunity, then you do not know what you are missing (and I suggest you rectify this as soon as possible.)  He is charismatic, intelligent, and quick on his feet.  He is also a hard worker, and someone who knows how to get the job done.  As CEO of Ford Motor Company since 2006, he has reworked a culture that was developed over decades of people being content with doing their job with a “good enough” attitude.

The magic he performed at FoMoCo kept the company from taking a Federal bailout like crosstown rivals GM and Chrysler and it also prevented Ford from filing for bankruptcy (like said rivals did early in 2009.)  For these reasons, and for pushing his teams to produce world class vehicles such as the 41 mpg Ford Fusion hybrid, Alan Mulally was named Automobile magazine’s 2010 Man of the Year.  Congratulations Alan!  Check out the full story at Automobilemag.com.

(Image source: Ford)