Archive for Ford

Malaysia will finally get Ford’s D-segment sedan entry, the new Ford Mondeo sometime next month. Sime Darby Auto ConneXion has revealed that the Malaysian spec Mondeo will get a 161 PS 2.3 liter Duratec engine mated to a 6-speed Durashift torque converter automatic transmission (would be nice if it was a PowerShift instead though). The Ford Mondeo will be a CBU unit imported from the Ford production plant in Genk, Belgium. AutoConneXion will be organising a series of exclusive preview sessions for members of the public leading up to the official launch in October. You can get your own personal invitation by calling Tania of AutoConneXion at 03-77181223 or 03-77181216.

Click here to read the rest of CBU Ford Mondeo 2.3 with 6-speed auto to land in Malaysia in November 2009

We all know that the Chinese automotive industry is booming and we are also familiar with some Chinese cars with designs that we have seen elsewhere. Here is an interesting piece of news regarding the topic. It has been reported that a former Ford engineer is being charged for selling company secrets to Chinese auto makers.

The person in question is Xiang Dong Yu who served for Ford between 1997 and 2007. Yu was recently arrested at the Chicago O’Hare International Airport after returning from an overseas trip. Apparently, Yu made copies of nearly 4,000 documents before leaving the Mustang maker. A year later in 2008, he tried to secure a job with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation by offering vital information from Ford. Yu eventually found a job in Beijing Automotive Corporation but it is unclear if he leaked out any information to the company.

He now faces five counts of theft of trade secrets, attempted theft of trade secrets and unauthorized access to a protected computer. The damage? Well, Mr Yu could be sentenced to 5-10 years in prison as well as a $250,000 fine for each charge.

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The Fiesta is now in its 6th generation but the 5th has been rehashed for India as the “new” Ford Figo. Its name means “cool” in Italian. The Figo will be built at Ford’s plant in Chennai, which is currently undergoing a massive upgrade costing US$500 million in order to become a regional centre for Ford compact car production.

The Figo looks like a car that could be suitable for sale here in Malaysia. It’s a low cost car for developing markets and in Malaysia it could be positioned like the Hyundai i10. I’m pretty sure one of its main competitors in India is the i10 as well, and our i10’s initial CBU imports and CKD packs also come from India. According to Ford, the Figo will be exported to Asia Pacific and African regions.

I’m not sure the new “kinetic design” language and the old Fiesta’s boxy body completely agree with each other. It’s definitely not a looker when compared to the 6th generation Fiesta, but what it lacks in looks it will make up in terms of price, which is an important factor in developing markets.

There’s nothing revealed about the engines in the press info but you can expect them to be low-end carry-overs from the 5th gen Fiesta. The engines will be made in the Chennai plant too, and both diesel and petrol versions will be available.

Look after the jump for a full gallery of the “new” Figo.

Click here to read the rest of Ford rehashes old Fiesta as Ford Figo

The Ford Focus BEV is a prototype zero emissions full electric vehicle, using the Focus as the base. The electric drive systems were supplied by Magna, and previews a future production car based on the next generation global C-segment Focus platform.

For now, a total of 15 Focus BEVs will be built and evaluated day to day in Europe to see if it is suitable for European road and driving conditions.The electric drive system uses a lithium ion battery with a capacity of 23kWh powering a chassis-mounted 100kW electric motor with 320Nm of torque.

This will give the Focus BEV a range of about 120km, which should be enough to get you to work and back in time for you to charge up again at night. Charging is expected to take between 6 to 8 hours using a regular 230V wall socket – no quick-charge figures were provided.

The Ranger XL now gets the same facelift as the Ranger XLT and RM3k bump in price to RM72,888 and RM76,388 in the Peninsular and East Malaysia respectively, up from the previous prices of RM69,888 and RM73,388. These prices do not include road tax, registration and insurance.

The new facelifted Ranger XL has an MP3-capable CD player, 16 inch alloy wheels, fog lamps, electronically controlled side mirrors, an immobiliser and a tilt-adjustable steering wheel. The XL’s front grille is made of plastic. Just like the promotion that Sime Darby had when the Ranger XL was first launched as the pre-facelift model, they are giving out a free bedliner and sidesteps during the introductory period.

Not much changes in the engine bay – the same 2.5 liter 12 valve SOHC indirect injection turbodiesel engine producing 109 PS at 3,500rpm and 257Nm of torque at 2,000rpm. This is a less sophisticated engine compared to the XLT’s twin cam direct injection engine with a VGT turbo that makes 143 PS. It comes with a 5-speed manual transmission only.

There are no airbags and I don’t think I see ABS anywhere on the spec sheet. 6 colours are available – Winning Blue, Cool White, Arizona Gold, Titanium Gray, Black Mica and Silver Metallic. If you’re looking for cheap trucks for work purposes only thus want to save some money by removing some equipment and having an older and less complicated engine, you can consider this Ranger XL.

An alternative would be the Triton Lite which has an even simpler diesel engine (with no turbocharger) but costs much less at under RM60k.

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Everyone knows the Ford Everest as the 7-seater SUV companion to the Ford Ranger, being based on the same ladder frame chassis and TDCi engines, so when the Ranger gets a facelift it’s not surprising that the Everest follows suit in keeping the same family look at the new Ranger.

This facelifted 2009 edition of the Ford Everest continues to be available with either a 2.5 liter turbodiesel with 143 PS, or a 3.0 liter turbodiesel with 156 PS. Both engines are available with 5-speed automatics while the 2.5 liter engine also has the option for a 5-speed manual. All variants feature a shift-on-the-fly 4WD-2WD selection system.

The retail prices for the new facelifted Ford Everest (imported from Ford’s Rayong plant in Thailand) in Peninsular Malaysia are RM145,888 for the 2.5L XLT (Manual), RM156,888 for the 2.5L XLT (Automatic) and RM169,888 for the 3.0L XLT (Automatic). The 4X2 version seems to be missing from the new line-up.

The prices for Sabah and Sarawak are RM149,388, RM160,388 and RM173,388 for the 2.5 M, 2.5 A and 3.0 A respectively. All prices quoted exclude road tax, insurance and registration.

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Remember the hot babe above who appeared together with the Ford Verve Concept that previewed the production new Ford Fiesta? Her name is Antonella and she’s a 28 year old woman who lives in Rome. Apparently she’s not real.

Antonella was also a “concept”, she was what Ford envisioned the Ford Fiesta’s consumer to be like. She was the personality for the Ford Verve Concept. She likes hanging out with friends, fun activities, clubbing and parties. And so did the Verve, or at least that’s what Ford says. It does look like a pretty fun car. The cellphone-like layout of the center dash area is meant to mirror her cellphone and the shape of the Verve’s instrument cluster pods are meant to mirror the kind of glasses she would wear.

You have to admit one thing though, the 3D rendering of her in the car above is pretty good! Look after the jump for one more photo of her.

Click here to read the rest of Antonella inspired the Ford Verve Concept

EcoBoost badging on the Ford Taurus SHO

Ford has announced a new 2.0 liter inline-4 EcoBoost (previously known as TwinForce) turbocharged engine that will begin sales in 2010. The 2.0 liter engine will feature turbocharging and Twin-Independent Variable Cam Timing (Ti-VCT).

It will deliver power equivalent to a normally aspirated V6 engine but offer between 10 to 20 percent better fuel economy. No official power figures have been revealed yet but Ford says at least 230 horses can be expected, along with 325Nm of torque peaking at just under 2,000rpm.

“Today we see it as a premium engine. As we expand it will be the volume engine,” said Ford’s VP for global product development Derrick Kuzak, referring to Ford engines with EcoBoost, which other than this new 2.0 liter engine, also includes the previously announced 355 horsepower 3.5 liter V6 found in the Taurus SHO.

Volume means small, mass-market cars. What’s coming up next is likely a smaller displacement EcoBoost inline-4 engine like a 1.4 liter or 1.6 liter EcoBoost turbo. Many other manufacturers have easily used turbocharged engines of such sizes to produce a 2.0 liter equivalent power output. Volkswagen even has a 1.2 liter TSI inline-3 that produces 102 PS, equivalent to a plain-jane 1.6 liter engine. It looks like the next generation of Mustang could be an all-turbo line-up, featuring this 2.0 liter turbo and the larger 3.5 liter turbo V6!

The only question I have is, given that Mazda (that Ford has close technical ties with) has had a turbocharged direct injection four cyclinder engine for quite some time now (found in the Mazda 3 MPS, Mazda 6 MPS and Mazda CX-7), why didn’t this come sooner?

Look after the jump for an unbelievably boring 10 minute presentation on EcoBoost by Ford’s Derrick Kuzak, but it’s got some info in it. Kuzak could definitely take some pointers from Steve Jobs though.

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The US Government has loaned US$ 5.9 billion to Ford, for the development of fuel-saving technologies including hybrid-electric systems, alternative-fuel power plants, direct-injection as well as other developments that are related to help reduce fuel consumption such as dual clutch transmissions, vehicle weight reduction and aerodynamic efficiency.

On that note, Ford has revealed more information about its electric car programs. First on the list, is a ‘pure battery electric’, or (BEV) Transit Connect commercial van that would be introduced next year. Ford will be working hand in hand with Smith Electric U.S on the development of the electric Transit.

Next on the list is something that is more interesting, which is the production of a BEV Focus. The emissions-free Focus would be co-developed with Magna, and can hit the streets by 2011. Both the BEV Transit Connect and BEC Focus are expected to deliver up to anywhere between 160 and 257 kilometers in terms of driving range.

Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally revealed, “This green partnership between Ford and the U.S. Government will help accelerate the development of advanced technologies for even better fuel efficiency and emissions. Ford is absolutely committed to fuel economy leadership with every new model we introduce. In fact, we plan to invest nearly $14 billion in advanced technology vehicles in the next seven years.”

FoMoCo will also work on plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) as well as “next generation” hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). Both the PHEV and the HEV could be introduced by 2012.

Lee Iacocca’s name may pop up more frequently these days in Chrysler-related matters, but it’s clear his heart still lies with the other one-third of the Detroit Three – Ford. Iacocca, designer Michael Leone and California-based coachbuilder Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters have came up with this Iacocca Silver Mustang, limited to a 45 unit production run.

At first sight you may notice a ilttle difference – this is more than just a kitted up Mustang. Its actually a whole new custom made body installed ontop of the 2010 Mustang chassis. It’s the most obvious from the side profile – the roofline is alot more like a fastback, rather than the 2010 Mustang’s rear section which has a more prominent boot.

Two engine options are available – a 320hp 4.6 liter V8 (up 20 horses from the standard V8 Mustang, let’s not talk about the V6 Mustang), or a supercharged version of the same engine putting out 400 horsepower. The engines are available exclusively with a 5-speed manual for these cars.

And why a Mustang? He was deeply involved in the production of the first Ford Mustang, which was launched in 1964. It so happens that 1964 is also the same year he became president of Ford’s Ford Division (yes it sounds weird, but as opposed to Ford’s other brands) after joining Ford way earlier in 1946.

Look after the jump for more pix of the Iacocca Mustang.

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