industry news

Ford To Build Euro Models Stateside, Reports Wall Street Journal

A Saturday Wall Street Journal report claims Ford is working up plans to retool its North American assembly plants to build a number of European models. Ford hasn't confirmed the report, but it is expected to announce the shift during its second-quarter earnings conference on Thursday. While the paper mentions only the Mondeo specifically, conventional wisdom has the Euro Focus and possibly a C-Max/S-Max joining it. We'll take one with a diesel and 6-speed stick, please. [WSJ via Automotive News (Sub. Req.)]

geneva motor show

Ford Mondeo and S-Max Get New Diesel, Titanium S Option, American Lust And Envy

If you haven't noticed, it's Kinetic Design Friday. We've got your Ford Fiesta, your Ford Kuga, and now your S-Max and Mondeo. The biggest news is the new 2.2-liter four-cylinder TDCi Duratorq diesel engine for the Mondeo, S-Max and Galaxy. This advanced diesel features the third generation common rail and turbo system, allowing the engine to produce 175 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque while still maintaining low emissions. The Mondeo and S-Max also get a new Titanium S option, which provides additional styling queues such as side skirts, modified grille frames, new fog lamp kits and other touches on the outside. On the inside, the Titanium S models get specially stitched leather, brushed aluminum finishes and piano black surfaces. Full press release and pics below.

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spy photos

Ford S-Max Spotted on the Mean Steets of Detroit

After being berated for the crappy quality of my pictures here, and here, and many other times, I've decided to upgrade to a Lumix FZ18 from the three year old Exilim that had horrible fading, limited dynamic range, and no optical zoom. The ironic part is that though this new piece of kit takes gorgeous pictures, the first you'll be seeing from it are full 18x zoom at speed looking through a mirror. So, in a word, crap. Nonetheless, look what we found running up and down Detroit's Woodward corridor this weekend, a Ford S-Max, fully kitted with chassis data collection equipment. We caught it sprinting through the the bougie neighborhood of Palmer Woods on it's way to making one of the many loops north to south we witnessed this weekend. We haven't heard anything yet about a true minivan replacement for the ill fated WindFreestar, but given the direction of GM's Saturn strategy lately, one wonders if the Blue Oval is thinking of taking a cue from the General and importing Euro product. Far be it for the progenitor of automotive standardization to do so again 90 years after it was considered de rigeur, that would just be madness.

jalopnik precast

Jalopnik Precast: Enzo Driver, Ford's European Minivans, Other Stuff

On today's Jalopnik Precast, Spinelli and Farago wonder if there's a connection between the Swedish mafia and the recent wreck of a Ferrari Enzo in California, and if there is indeed a Swedish mafia. Also, there's something about Ford minivans, or whatever they're called in Europe. More »