At the recent auto show in Detroit, Ford and Volkswagen announced another collaborative tie-up. This comes at a time when Ford have announced some poor numbers and the proposed agreement could help both parties reduce costs. It is not the first time that the two companies have shared technology, platforms and other components - Motoring Weekly recently wrote about Ford using … [Read more...]
Ford Focus RS Drift Mode
A couple of years ago, Ford in Europe released the Focus RS with a "drift" mode. The Australian media were appalled and interviewed the police over this heinous act of public disorder. They published several articles about how the youth were going to kill themselves (and others) with this car. It didn’t matter that it was much easier to drift a Falcon or Holden Commodore … [Read more...]
Ford Autonomous Vehicles
In July, Ford Motor Company (FMC) announced they had created a new company with a separate governance Board to focus on autonomous vehicles. The company name: Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC (FAV) - no confusion about what they plan to do then, is there! It will be headed by Sherif Marakby, an FMC Vice President who had spent a year at Uber on their autonomous vehicle systems. … [Read more...]
Ford Has The Holy Grail
So says Jack Bakaj, the head of engineering at Ford Europe. He is talking about a new architecture that the company will use for some of its smaller models. Earlier this year, Ford announced that it would stop production of most of its car models in the US and would concentrate on SUVs and trucks with factories in other countries producing the models that would be imported in … [Read more...]
Ford’s Multi-Modal Transportation Patent
In May, Automotive News in the US wrote an article about a new patent that Ford had filed in the prior month. It was for a multi-modal transport system - not new as a concept but one that Ford was patenting as a way to ensure future products are secure from others launching similar ideas. The Ford idea is a vehicle that combines a motorcycle with a small car. Patent number … [Read more...]