Better Ideas? Ford May Have Some

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TrainTrac

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Something else from Ford's FB page. :smile0006:



January 4, 2010, 8:23 am



Better Ideas? Ford May Have Some



By JAMES G. COBB



Nostradamus Im not.



Friends with keen memories (and enemies with library cards) are always reminding me of some dubious prognostication from the past.



A year ago, my list of the most impressive cars I drove in 2008 was topped by the hydrogen-powered Honda FCX Clarity. While I havent changed my mind about the FCXs potential, you may have noticed that it isnt setting the world on fire (literally or figuratively).



Two years back, I praised several of General Motors new products (Cadillac CTS, Chevy Malibu and Silverado, GMC Acadia). I wrote then: Not long ago the company was written off as a bureaucratic dinosaur incapable of making cars that Americans wanted. Yet its latest vehicles are fundamentally better. Referring to G.M.s management, I closed that paragraph this way: At last, somebody gets it.



And get it they did the boot, that is. And bankruptcy, too.



So here I go again with another confident prognosis: as 2010 begins, Ford is the auto company to watch. Americas oldest surviving carmaker really does seem to be getting its act together not that its doesnt have big challenges remaining.



By swallowing some strong financial medicine a few years ago it didnt have to beg for a taxpayer bailout. Unlike G.M. and Chrysler it has avoided bankruptcy so far. Under Alan Mulally, its management seems to have both a vision and a plan for carrying it through.



Which brings me to the true nuts and bolts of whether a car company has a chance at success: the cars and trucks it puts in the showroom. There are some compelling new reasons to visit the local Ford dealer.



Take the midsize, middle-of-the-road Ford Fusion sedan. Since it arrived as a 2006 model, the Fusion was always a perfectly decent car; now it has new powertrain choices, including a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine and a six-speed automatic with highway mileage ratings of up to 34 miles per gallon. As with several other new Fords, the interior has been upgraded so much I had to double-check the badges to make sure I wasnt in a Honda or Toyota.



The Fusion Hybrid, the most impressive new car I drove in the last 12 months, builds on the solid underlying package with an efficient and virtually seamless gas-electric powertrain. Ive long believed that hybrids would come into their own when managed to drive and feel pretty much like a normal car, and the Fusion Hybrid (along with the more expensive Lexus HS 250h) accomplishes just that.



Theres more from Ford as well. I spent some time zipping around New Jersey in 2009 in the terrific Ford Fiesta subcompact. While that was a European-spec car, Americanized versions will be arriving here in a few months. If Ford doesnt dumb down the car for Americans Dearborn insists it wont the Fiesta should do very well.



Another surprise was the 2010 Mustang GT, which has been transformed more than you might guess by glancing at its familiar lines. The 4.6-liter V-8 is more powerful, the cabin is much more polished, the body structure feels more solid. Yes, the Mustang still has a old-school solid rear axle, but I still prefer to cruise in this car over the heavier Chevy Camaro.



My one big disappointment from Ford is its redesigned Taurus, a car that feels compromised, as though it had been concocted without a focused game plan. Big on the outside, small on the inside, the new Taurus feels like a throwback to the American cars of yesterday. A pity, since the rest of the company seems to be straining to move forward.



Even Carnac the Magnificent could see that.
 
no mention of the truck/suv aspect... the svt f150 sure has my ears perked... guess he just measures cars and the like
 

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