truth about domestics

The ads you see above are Ford’s latest round of Drive One ads.  The segments are only 15 seconds long but they feature real Ford owners talking about their cars in a natural setting – their car.  The ads were filmed with the owners not knowing the video would be used for a Ford commercial, making the messages they’re sending even more authentic.  For more, head on over to The Ford Story.

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)

The all-new Ford Focus has been shown for the first time at the North American International Auto Show and boy does it look good!  Not only is the exterior design outstanding, but the interior reportedly raises the bar for not only the C-segment, but cars in more premium segments as well!  Autoblog even goes so far as to say the interior is something you would expect in a Lexus or Audi, it’s that good!  For more details and official shots, head on over to Autoblog.

Or, to see a video of the unveiling, head on over here.

(Image source: Ford)

Ford Motor Company has had a fleet of hydrogen powered Focuses for about 4 years now, racking up miles all over the United States.  Well now 10 of the 30 car fleet is headed to Iceland for further testing.  Iceland is interested in fuel cell vehicles because of their vast geothermal and water resources.  For more details, head on over to newenergy.is.

(Image source: AutoblogGreen)

Ford has built and is currently running 10 battery-electric equipped versions of its 2009 Focus.  The car currently has a range of about 100 miles and is being constantly upgraded.  Well it would be upgraded more, if the engineering team could get their hands on the cars.  The 10 cars are so busy they have not been able to come out of the press fleet at all for upgrades that include a more isolated vacuum pump and improved ride and handling feel.  At least this shows that their is a large amount of interest in a battery-electric version of the Focus.  For more details, head on over to Autoblog Green.

(Image source: Ford)

Ahhhh, it’s not often that I can say that a piece of automotive news has lifted my spirits at 10:28 PM on a Monday night, but this is one of those times.  Ford has won 4 Strategic Vision awards, for the Focus, Mustang, Expedition and F-250 and F-350 and Toyota managed to lose 3 spots to Ford and secure, let me see, 1, 2, 3…ZERO awards!  For more details, head on over to Strategic Vision.

(Image source: Ford)

There is simply no other way to describe it.  Ford is getting serious about its car business, as you can clearly see after the success of the Ford Fusion and Fusion hybrid, and the all new Taurus.  Now Ford is turning its attention to its smaller cars, namely the Fiesta and the Focus.  Well, according to marketing exec, Jim Farley, Ford could bring somewhere around 10 versions of the Focus to the United States.  The versions range from the base sedan to a coupe, three- and five-door hatches, wagons and small crossovers!  The new Focus is set to debut in Detroit this January so stay tuned for the latest.  For now, head on over to Car and Driver.

(Image source: Ford)

According to a recent study by Experian Automotive, the Domestic brands took 7 of the top 10 spots in a brand loyalty study.  Interestingly, Ford Motor Company claimed 6 spots on their own, with Chevrolet claiming the 7th.  The vehicles include the Ford Fusion, Edge and Five Hundred taking the number 1, 2 and 3 spots, along with the Ford Freestyle, Chevrolet Impala, Ford Escape and Focus.  For the full list, head on over to Seeking Alpha.

Another interesting point made in the article is that Toyota had the second largest decline in new registrations from the second quarter 2008 to 2009.  Looks like Toyota is in bigger trouble than originally stated…

(Image source: Ford)

That’s right folks!  Jay Leno has chosen to go a more green route and put stars into the Ford Focus battery electric vehicle (BEV) for a racing style competition that will track their times from show to show, celeb to celeb.  I think it’s a pretty neat idea, it will help get the word out about Ford’s future technologies (a BEV Focus is due out in the next few years) and it will also show the greener side of automobiles.  For more, head on over to Autoblog.

So, August sales numbers are in, and as many expected, Cash For Clunkers seemed to help out.  If you follow this site regularly, you know how upset I was about the fact that foreign cars could be purchased with the government rebates as well as domestic cars.  Sadly, the foreign companies saw a greater portion of the sales last month, but I’m glad our hard earned American money went to help the struggling economy (in Japan and Korea.)  Some big winners were cars like the Ford Flex, with sales rising 106.5 %, the Ford Fusion, up 131.6 %, and the Ford Focus was up 55.9 %.  For more, head on over to Autoblog.