A bitingly cold wind is sweeping through the Motor City this day, but the bigger chill continues to be the rapidly increasing number of idle plants from Detroit's automakers. As part of a previously-announced bid to trim first-quarter output by nearly 38%, Ford now says it will shut down ten North American factories the week of January 5. Unlike Chrysler's planned one month downtime (where they eerily won't commit to start dates), the Blue Oval has confirmed plans to re-light the fires in eight of those plants beginning the week of January 12.
That means that during the week of January 5, Ford's only active North American plants will be in Dearborn (F-150), and Kansas City (F-150, Escape/Mercury Mariner). The week of January 12 will see all facilities up save Hermosillo, Mexico (Fusion, Milan, Lincoln MKZ) and Oakville, Ontario, where the Flex, Edge, and MKX are built. Ford is angling to cut down its quarterly output to just 430,000 vehicles, and shutdowns at staggered intervals are expected to continue throughout early next year.
Little guy Porsche is taking huge swings, and not just at the giant that is Volkswagen. Porsche head Wendelin Wiedeking had fierce Teutonic words for General Motors and Ford, and banks. His Rindfleisch – beef, that is – with U.S. automakers is that, through unsound practices, they have thrown absolutely everything into turmoil. In the words of the Guardian, in fact, they have driven "the industry to the brink of ruin."
Those are big and perhaps hyperbolic words. But he then singles out GM for "openly threatening" the U.S. Government with bankruptcy, and predicts a hedge fund will take control of "one of the U.S. car manufacturers." Since Chrysler is already controlled by a hedge fund, that only leaves GM and Ford as the possible subjects of that comment. We can't imagine a hedge fund trying to swallow GM or Ford, especially after Cerberus has taken such a beating with Chrysler that seemingly all they can say is "Must... find... the exit."
Wiedeking is on more Earthly ground when he talks about the little guys, suppliers, who are quietly going under -- even though many of them ran their business correctly -- due to the banks' refusal to lend money while the clash of automotive titans continues. In a quote that people in many different industries can applaud, he says "We need banks to give credit, not just talk about credit ratings but start real actual lending to companies." Amen.
We're already encouraged by the fact that Ralph Gilles has ascended to the top of Chrysler's design department, as the past vehicles penned under his supervision have all been some of Chrysler's best. Say what you want about the reborn 300 now, but when it was first introduced, it's styling set in motion a major tidal wave of accolades and was a fresh direction for Detroit's number 3. The 'Edge' look, as Gilles calls it, though, is getting a bit stale these days and Chrysler needs a new direction -- Sebring anyone? According to the new design chief, ChryCo's new look will be 'Organic', which Gilles says will get "our cars to be sexy again." Remember "cab forward"? That moniker could make a comeback along with the more stylish interiors that Chrysler so desperately needs.
The blind spot has been a consistent safety issue for automobiles since before the invention of the C-pillar. Some automakers have recently tackled the problem with complicated warning systems that beep when your blind spot is about to cause an accident. Ford is taking a different but no less effective low-tech route with the introduction of its Blind Spot Mirror on the 2009 Edge. The technology behind the Blind Spot Mirror is simple; it's little more than a secondary convex mirror in the top right corner of the traditional side mirror that gives a clear view of what before was only visible by craning your neck left and right. We've seen this type of tech used before on aftermarket mirrors for towing applications, but it makes just as much sense on an unencumbered passenger vehicle.
Ford came up with the mirror in response to its own customer research that showed drivers were 76% more confident behind the wheel when using the mirror. The overwhelmingly positive feedback has led the Blue Oval to introduce the Blind Spot Mirror across its lineup as quickly as possible, starting with the 2009 Edge.
Ford has been banking on strong sales of its crossover vehicles to help counter the sinking ship that is its line of SUVs. While the new Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, along with the brand new Ford Flex and revised Escape, have sold well enough to post a meager 2.8-percent gain in overall sales so far this year, that number apparently isn't high enough to warrant a third shift at Ford's Oakville, Ontario plant that the automaker was hoping would be necessary. Unfortunately, this shift cancelation means that 350 workers who had planned on showing up for their first day next Monday are now left jobless.
While there are certainly buyers out there who require the capability to haul around their entire families and their associated gear, all large passenger vehicles -- crossovers like the new Flex included -- face an uphill battle now to overcome current market conditions, as this latest announcement once again proves.
The guys and gals over at Kieffe & Sons Ford have had enough of people wanting to remove God from our money and the Pledge of Allegiance, and they're spending valuable advertising dollars to tell Californians all about it. The brash Ford dealer has been running a commercial since February with the main goal of pissing off secularists, and if all goes right, bringing the rest of the car-buying public to the showroom floor.
The main point of the spot is that 86 out of every 100 U.S. citizens are Christians who believe in God, so "believers" should just tell the other 14% to "sit down and shut up". The commercial then goes on to say that if those 14% are offended, then that's too bad because the dealer was asserting its first amendment right. That's great, but then why tell others to "sit down and shut up" when they're simply asserting their first amendment right? The saddest part of the commercial is that it appears to be nothing more than a lame attempt to use religion to get Christians to buy Fords. For the record, Ford corporate can't do anything about the commercials since the dealership is an independent franchise. Hit the jump to read the transcript of the commercial, and try not to break into a holy war in the comments.
Geneva has been good to Maserati. Last year the company unveiled the GranTurismo to thunderous applause, and followed up this year with the more powerful GranTurismo S. Meanwhile, the students of the Instituto Europeo di Design unveiled their Maserati Chicane concept, which won out over rival designs to win sponsorship and a spot under the bright lights of the Geneva Motor Show to show their talent to the world.
We caught up with the IED graduate design students and found our cameras snapping away at the striking concept. Although certain details aren't likely to find their way onto a production Trident, with the design chiefs from Maserati and Fiat AG on the selecting jury, we wouldn't be all that surprised to see some similarities when Maserati eventually unleashes its anticipated new sportscar.
Ford would like to think that it's a car company for the people, and the Blue Oval's latest TV commercial for Canada features zero cars. What the ad does show is a group of men and women dressed in Ford-issue blue going Cirque Du Soleil to form the silhouette of a Fusion and an Edge. The vehicles are very recognizable too, even though the 18 or so hominids use very minimal props.
more ...
BMW is touting itself as the world's first car maker to offer completely unrestricted in-car access to the World Wide Web. It's all part of "ConnectedDrive," BMW's own so-called intelligent network that connects the driver, the vehicle and their surroundings. Although innovative, this isn't entirely uncharted territory for BMW as you may recall they introduced limited access to online Google features last May, and Google navigation and RSS features in December.
The German automaker chose EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) technology for the internet hook up because it's available on a broad scale (Apple uses it in the iPhone) though slower than what's known as a 3G connection. The user interface within the vehicle will be BMW's iDrive controller (please, refrain from making snappy comments until after we are done with the presentation). With unrestricted Internet access, users will be able to input URLs to surf the web, check e-mail, and BMW claims you can even complete online banking transactions while on the go. Realizing that surfing the web while driving a car isn't in the best interest of public safety, the web access will only work when the car is parked. Of course, BMW points out that if the vehicle is fitted with the optional DVD entertainment system, users in the rear seats may continue to surf while the vehicle is in motion.
As of right now, like most pioneering things in the automotive industry, BMW's in-car Internet access is only available in Europe. It appears, for now, that us Yanks will have to continue to focus on driving (and sipping Big-Gulps) while in our cars.
What is in a name? Would it be too linear a thought process to expect that a vehicle with a "sport" designation would be, you know, sporty? Ford officially rolled out the Edge Sport at the Chicago Auto Show, and while the moniker might be dubious, it is at least a nicely done factory tuner. The idea behind the Edge Sport is to create a tuner package with factory-backed quality levels. Check out the live shots and you'll see that the already well-trimmed interior gets an extra level of attention, and the bodykit applied to the outside is tasteful. New paint colors are Sport-exclusive, as are smoked lenses on the lights. The biggest feature that Ford is touting are the monstrous wheels wrapped in low-profile rubber. The standard 20-inchers are enough to give the brake rotors an inferiority complex as they appear hardly larger than the wheel hubs. If you need an even harsher ride and more clearance around those anti-massive brakes, you can upgrade to 22s. Wheel size to brake rotor diameter shenanigans aside, we like the Edge Sport. We'd find it sporty if it came with the EcoBoost powertrain, but as it stands, it's more like the Edge Spiffy.
