Ford Fusion Named Motor Trend Car of the Year

The Ford Fusion is a perfectly competent yet utterly bland vehicle. It’s proof that American firms can compete in the mass-market vanilla sedan segment, but not because it does anything particularly well. Its strength is nothing more than an absence of the glaring issues that kept Detroit out of the Accord/Camry sweepstakes. Which is why Motor Trend doesn’t get overly carried away with the credibility-straining praise of the vehicle itself (with the requisite glaring exceptions, to wit: “the Fusion SE goes from mild-mannered commuter to worthy canyon charger”). So instead, the praise gets spread to the lineup as a whole: “the 2010 Ford Fusion’s impressive bandwidth as a model range was one of the many factors that helped it earn the 2010 Motor Trend Car of the Year award,” we’re told. What this boils down to: you can get a hybrid powertrain in addition to four-pot and six-pot engines. In short, MT gave the Fusion COTY because it does everything a Camry does, but, crucially, it’s from Detroit. Well, Saltillo, Mexico, actually. Still, its advertising budget still comes from Detroit, and that makes all the difference.

McCain says Chrysler unlikely to survive

Arizona Sen. John McCain said Sunday that Chrysler Group LLC is unlikely to survive, despite receiving nearly $15 billion in government loans.

McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, reiterated his opposition to the $80 billion auto industry bailout begun by President George W. Bush last December.

"No, I don't think we ever should have bailed out Chrysler and General Motors," McCain said in Arizona, where he was serving as grand marshal of at the NASCAR Sprint Cup series race at the Phoenix International Raceway. "We should have let them go into bankruptcy, emerge and become viable corporations again."

Chrysler spokeswoman Shawn Morgan declined to comment on McCain's remarks.

Both GM and Chrysler underwent bankruptcy restructurings this summer, and have since emerged as new companies with healthier balance sheets.

McCain suggested the decision to inject billions into the automakers was because of the political clout of the United Auto Workers union -- and other unions.

"It was all about the unions. The unions didn't want to have their very generous contracts renegotiated so we put $80 billion into both General Motors and Chrysler, and anybody believes that Chrysler is going to survive, I'd like to meet them," McCain said.

Fiat SpA received a 20 percent stake in Chrysler as part of the Auburn Hills automaker's exit from bankruptcy and Fiat's CEO, Sergio Marchionne, is now running Chrysler. The company outlined this month a vision for the next five years.

The UAW insists it made tough sacrifices to save the automakers.

As part of the deal, the UAW agreed at GM and Chrysler to $7 an hour in givebacks in wages and benefits, gave up the right to strike through 2015 and swapped billions in health care payments owed to retirees in exchange for equity in the automakers. The UAW has also seen tens of thousands of members accept buyouts or early retirements.

"We see the automotive industry, and my heart goes out to the citizens of Detroit, really in the tank, and yet we have manufacturing plants all over the South, which are not bound by some of the labor rules and contracts that make them non-competitive," McCain said.

This isn't the first time McCain has criticized the auto bailout, even though he supported aiding automakers during the 2008 campaign for president.

"Chrysler finally filing for bankruptcy! Wish they would have done it months ago as I called for -- could have saved taxpayers $26.7 billion!" he wrote May 1 on his Twitter account.

He also compared the deal to communism and socialism. "President (proposes) government/union takeover of GM and Chrysler -- Lenin would be smiling," he wrote on April 30, referring to the former Soviet leader.

Two days earlier, he wrote: "UAW eventually owning 55% of Chrysler stock and the U.S. Gov owning the rest -- if that isn't socialism, what is?"

Ford Taurus - America's Most Innovative Sedan - Named 'Official Car' of the 2010 International cES

NEW YORK, Nov. 10, 2009 -- -- The 2010 Ford Taurus will be the official car of the 2010
International CES®, to be held Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas

-- The all-new Taurus is a perfect fit for CES - it offers 10
class-exclusive technologies not available from any other manufacturer

-- The Ford Taurus offers more user-friendly technology than other cars
twice its price

The smartest full-size sedan in America, the hot-selling 2010 Ford Taurus, will be the official vehicle of the 2010 International CES (Consumer Electronics Show®), to be held Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas.

"The all-new Taurus is Ford's technology flagship, offering more user-friendly technology to help keep you safe and connected than cars twice its price," said Frank Davis, executive director Product Development. "And there's no better venue to show it off than CES."

Ford President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally will deliver the opening keynote address at CES, where Ford also will announce enhancements to its award-winning Ford SYNC® communications and entertainment system as well as new technology that builds on the company's connected-car leadership position.

As the official car of CES, the Ford Taurus will be featured prominently with technology demonstrations and in signage, brochures and other written materials at the show.

"Consumers demand the latest on-the-go innovation in their cars. Ford automobiles are built with cutting-edge technology that makes driving safer and more enjoyable," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association® (CEA), producer of the International CES. "We are thrilled to welcome Ford to the 2010 International CES and to name the new Ford Taurus as the 'Official Car of CES.' We also look forward to hearing Ford's Alan Mulally kick off the 2010 CES with his opening keynote address on Thursday, Jan. 7."

As Davis notes, the all-new Ford Taurus is a perfect fit for CES - the world's largest consumer technology trade show for the $172 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. In addition to its expressive styling, the vehicle is loaded with advanced features, making it a virtual dream come true for avid techies.

"The Ford Taurus has 10 class-exclusive features not available from any other manufacturer," said Davis. "This vehicle offers it all - from Multi-Contour Seats with Active Motion(TM) that are designed to reduce fatigue on long-distance drives to a voice-activated navigation system that can tell you real-time traffic and weather information, and even where to find the cheapest gas."

The Taurus also offers the latest application of SYNC - Traffic, Directions & Information - along with 911 Assist(TM) and Vehicle Health Report. SYNC's USB port and Bluetooth capability connects to MP3 players, memory sticks and smartphones, making them accessible by voice control - a more convenient and safe way to use these devices in the car.

For techies with teenaged drivers, Taurus offers MyKey(TM), a feature that allows parents to program a key that can limit the vehicle's top speed and audio volume to encourage teens to drive safer and improve fuel efficiency.

In addition to Multi-Contour Seats with Active Motion, voice-activated navigation, SYNC and MyKey, other class-exclusive technologies available on the Ford Taurus include:

-- EasyFuel® Capless Fuel-Filler - a self-seal system without a
traditional fuel cap. No lost, dangling, or spinning caps. It seals
automatically, every time.

-- SecuriCode(TM) Keyless Entry Keypad - a feature that allows you to
unlock the driver's door by entering a five-digit code via a
flush-mounted keypad

-- Adaptive Cruise Control and Collision Warning with Brake Support - a
feature that allows you to set a cruising speed and uses radar
technology to automatically adjust your speed and warn you if you're
getting too close to the vehicle in front of you

-- Blind Spot Information System (BLIS®) with Cross Traffic Alert - a
feature that uses radar technology to warn you of vehicles in your
blind spot and alert you to oncoming traffic when you're backing out
of a parking spot

-- Sony Audio® System - a surround sound system that delivers Dolby®
Digital 5.1 sound through 12 high-quality Sony speakers

-- Available EcoBoost(TM) V-6 - a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 engine that
delivers the output of a V-8, 365 horsepower, without compromising its
V-6 fuel economy

According to Davis, all of the technology offered on the Ford Taurus is sweetened by the vehicle's price.

"Even the most zealous techies are careful with their money," he said. "Taurus offers an unprecedented array of technologies typically reserved for luxury cars at a price that is affordable."

In addition to being named official vehicle of the 2010 International CES, the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO was dubbed Esquire magazine's first-ever "Car of the Year."

Clearly Ford Has a Winner: 2010 Fusion Hybrid Extended Test Drive

Of all the cars Ford has released recently, the one that has gotten the most “green” coverage is the Fusion Hybrid. It’s a good looking car and most people I know who’ve driven it have come back and told me that they were impressed—including even a couple die-hard “anti-greenies.” Yet, for some inexplicable reason I’d actually been resistant to test drive it even when presented with an opportunity. Maybe all that leftover resentment hanging around from my past experiences was having more of an effect than I thought?

Whatever the reasons, it turns out I was being an idiot to resist this car. Seriously.

So when one of my favorite bands announced they were holding a 3 day music festival in Indio, California—Phish Festival 8—my mind subconsciously put 2 and 2 together, subsequently let me in on its little secret, and thus was born the idea to conduct a test drive of the Fusion Hybrid from the airport at Long Beach to the festival and back with fellow blogger and Phish Head, Tim Hurst. It would be a several day trip over 300 miles and it seemed like the perfect way to get to know this car as if we really owned it.

I want to get this one point out there right off the bat: even though Ford provided us with the test car, everything you read in this review is in no way influenced by any relationship with Ford. During the test drive I tried to remain as objective as possible.

Fuel Economy

The EPA rates the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid as getting 41 MPG in the city and 36 MPG on the highway. But more and more those EPA numbers are meaningless with modern alterna-cars such as hybrids and PHEVs. They can be incredibly sensitive to how you drive them and your mileage will vary dramatically based on your willpower to save fuel.

Case in point: even the EPA now gives expected ranges in very small print underneath its bold, one-number MPG proclamations which show large swings. For the 2010 Fusion Hybrid the EPA small print says the expected city range for most drivers is 35 to 47 MPG and for highway driving it is 31 to 41 MPG. I don’t know about you, but to me a variance of 12 MPG is pretty large range to be able to boldly say that the car gets 41 MPG in the city.

Based on about 60 miles of city driving, my experience was that if you tried you could get nearly 50 MPG in the city—and it really didn’t take that much effort, willpower or training to do it. The car provides you with such a great driver interface—the Ford SmartGauge—that it almost seems like fun trying to make it get the highest fuel efficiency possible.

The Fusion Hybrid’s killer app is the ability to act like a fully electric car below speeds of 47 mph. With a little coaching from the SmartGauge, you can easily bring the car down to the level at which the 2.5L Atkinson-Cycle I-4 Hybrid engine shuts off and it runs completely off of its high-power NiMH battery. Doing some additional planning ahead for stop lights, I found that on the relatively flat drive between Huntington Beach and Long Beach Airport I was able to average about 49 MPG.

In the city, the car benefits from getting up to speed quickly with its available 191 HP and then feathering back from the throttle to pop it into EV mode. Using this strategy I could make it from stoplight to stoplight with about 70% of my time as an electric car. I also found that the transition between engine driving and EV mode was essentially seamless, with the stop/start feature being barely noticeable.

If you spend most of your time driving in the city and you’re willing to drive a bit less aggressively with your mind focused on both the road and the SmartGauge, you will get much better than the EPA average of 41 MPG.

When we finally hit the road to make the long drive out to Festival 8, I was curious to see if we could beat the EPA estimate of 36 MPG on the highway. Although I didn’t make highway-only estimates, in the end we were able to average almost 39 MPG for the entire 328 mile trip. Given that we ran into heavy traffic, used the A/C a lot and were charging all sorts of mobile devices that’s a pretty respectable showing, but clearly the Fusion Hybrid is built to excel in city driving.

One item of note: the cruise control on the Fusion Hybrid helps to conserve fuel by not killing it to get up slopes and letting the car go above the set speed on downhills. I also noticed that on extended downhills, the engine would shut off conserving fuel even more. In fact, the cruise control on this car is so unlike your standard cruise control that Ford has decided to call it speed control. Usually you have to avoid cruise control to get the best fuel economy, but the speed control on the Fusion Hybrid turned out to deliver better mileage on the highway than I could even when I was concentrating.


Comfort and Convenience

Ford provided us with a fully-loaded production model 2010 Fusion Hybrid, so it was certainly more decked out than what you might purchase on your own. With a base price of $27,625 plus a destination charge of $725, it is not a cheap car by any means.

Our model, with the highest level option package available (Rapid Spec 502A), came to around $32,000. Above and beyond the long list of standard features, this package included an upgraded Sony sound system, a moon/sunroof, a voice activated navigation system with a Sirius-linked traffic and travel guide, leather-trimmed heated front seats, a blind spot warning system, and a back-up camera.

On our long drive, the 8-way adjustable driver’s seat proved to be very useful and the Sirius radio was great, but the Microsoft SYNC system left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Trying to get it to connect up with my iPhone turned out to be one of the biggest frustrations I had with the car. The bluetooth worked fine for making phone calls, but when I wanted to either stream my music over bluetooth or even connect the iPhone up through the USB port to play my music through the SYNC system, it had so many problems I eventually gave up.

Actually, I take that back. The whole system worked flawlessly for about 30 minutes, after which it all went to hell and all the connections I had set up with my iPhone suddenly stopped working. Leave it to Microsoft to screw this up. I’m not some kind of technologically ignorant idiot either. Give me a few minutes and I can usually figure something like this out without any problems. I rarely have to use directions, but after many trips to the SYNC manual, I still couldn’t figure it out.

Even with the navigation system there were problems. It simply took too many steps to make it do what I wanted it to. Compared to the interface design that went into my iPhone, the SYNC system needs help. It was even more of a conundrum to me because the SmartGauge—which is separate from the SYNC system—is designed so well. Why didn’t they just have the SmartGauge team design the SYNC system instead of Microsoft? It likely would have turned out better.

Because of all the extra space taken up with the Hybrid machinery, the Fusion Hybrid has an incredibly small trunk. It’s definitely big enough to hold about 2 golf bags, but more than that and you’ll be puzzling it out to try and make it all fit.

One unexpected benefit of the high power battery and stop-start system: when you’re parked at a concert venue or tailgating you can turn on the car completely and it won’t use any fuel until the battery drains to a certain point and then the engine will turn on just long enough to charge the battery and then shut off again. At Festival 8 this was a great feature because we had so many things to charge. I’ve been struck lame more than once by dead battery syndrome at a multi-day concert. The Fusion Hybrid essentially eliminates that problem, and it didn’t have that much of an effect on overall fuel economy.

Safety and Build Quality

The optional installed blind spot warning system seems like a great idea gone horribly wrong. If I could have turned the thing off I would have. In parking lots it got confused and beeped at me like there was no tomorrow. When we pulled off the road and were surrounded by bushes you would have thought the world was coming to an end with the amount of incessant beeping this thing produced. Needless to say, it’s an option that has a long way to come.

The back up camera, on the other hand, was great. The clarity with which you can see objects behind you is outstanding. It took a while to get used to the idea of looking at a display rather than the rear view mirror, but once you convince your brain that it is okay you quickly become accustomed to it. In fact, now that I’m driving my own car again I kind of miss the back-up camera.

The Fusion Hybrid felt very solid. Around corners and in traffic I certainly felt confident in the car. I didn’t hear a single squeak or rattle the entire time we were driving it. You can tell a lot about how well a car was designed by the details: all of the seams were well stitched and the interior and exterior molding joints had very close tolerances.

One minor issue: when you come to a stop the engine shuts off, and it is usually unnoticeable when the engine comes back on after pressing the accelerator pedal. But if you have to accelerate very quickly (such as when making a turn across heavy traffic into a parking lot) the slight delay is enough to scare you when you cut across the oncoming traffic. Just be prepared for this and don’t expect completely instantaneous acceleration.

Overall Impressions

Even with its minor foibles, after having 5 days to get to know it I left southern California loving this car. The 2010 Fusion Hybrid has great looks, is fun to drive, sports a bunch of features that add value in unexpected ways, is comfortable and, above all else, proves that Ford cares about what it’s selling again.

Certainly at a base price of $23,150 you can buy a bare bones 2010 Prius with virtually no options for much less, but Ford has made the calculation that they aren’t willing to sell the Fusion Hybrid as a bare bones model. If you really want to start comparing apples to apples, the Fusion Hybrid and the Toyota Prius are very competitively priced with one another when equipped similarly.

The Prius does score higher EPA fuel economy numbers, but it has less versatility and ability to drive it like you want to. Based on my experience, you can get much higher fuel economy in the Fusion Hybrid than the EPA suggests. Plus the Ford SmartGauge beats the Prius’ interface’s pants off—there is no comparison in that department. Toyota has a lot to learn about human-machine interface, and now that they actually have some competition in the hybrid realm I hope it spurs them to figure it out.

And, let’s face it, the Fusion is a much better looking car.

When I was leaving the concert grounds after the first night of Festival 8, I was in a dense crowd of fellow Phish fans and I found myself eavesdropping on a conversation behind me. It was a rather fitting and prophetic conversation because in it, a man was half-joking with a woman about how he lost all his money in the stock market. The woman replied that she was doing okay because the market was coming back, and then she said this: “I’ve invested my money in Ford because they’re the only American company worth anything anymore.”

If that’s the conventional wisdom at a rock concert from a random conversation overheard in a gigantic crowd, then Ford is set for a major comeback. Certainly the recent news that Ford posted an unexpected nearly $1 billion profit and that their sales are up dramatically is pointing in that direction.

And if they keep pumping out cars like the Fusion Hybrid, the sky’s the limit.

Electric-powered Ford Transit Connect will go 80 miles between charges, other Ford electric vehicle plans revealed

Ford Motor's begun to trickle out details of its electric-vehicle plans.

It says Azure Dynamics will supply its so-called Force Drive drivetrain to create an all-electric version of its Transit Connect small commercial van. The plug-in vehicle should go on sale to commercial customers in the U.S. and Canada late next year.

The battery-powered Transit will go at least 80 miles on a full charge, Ford says, and possibly more. A final decision hasn't been made on battery size, which will determine the range. Johnson Controls-Saft will supply the lithium-ion battery. And it will be "dual badged":

The electric Transit Connect is to be marketed as both a Ford and an Azure, and possibly warrantied by Azure, not Ford.

In 2011, Ford says, it will offer a battery only, plug-in Focus, with at least some intended for regular showroom customers rather than strictly commercial and fleet buyers.

In 2012 will come an unidentified "next-generation" hybrid (meaning it'll have a lithium-ion battery) and an also-anonymous "plug-in hybrid vehicle." Ford won't say if these will be two versions of the same model -- such as two versions of a Fusion sedan -- or separate models, such as a next-gen Fusion hybrid, for instance, and a plug-in Escape.

Seatbelts With Airbags? Ford Believes It's The Future of Safety

Thursday, Ford announced their intention to take safety to new heights not yet reached in today's vehicles by introducing the first seatbelt with an airbag. This announcement triggered the normal who, what, where, when and how line of questions. For the moment, we know that this new safety technology is intended for rear seat passengers and is slated to debut in the 2011 Ford Explorer redesign−meaning it will certainly be available to the masses.

It is the opinion of some that rear seat passenger have been neglected over the years when the topic of safety is concerned. The front passengers enjoy airbags out the wazoo, including front, side and curtain airbags. Front passengers also have the luxury of adjustable seatbelts, which reduce seatbelt trauma in the event of an accident. No, not for the rear seat passengers, the most they generally get in today's cars are side and curtain airbags. I personally don't think this is a really detriment to the rear passenger's safety, but in today's world where safety is "King", I guess Ford's introduction is the next logical step. In fact, they aren't the only ones introducing airbags in seatbelts, Lexus is also said to be working on it for their up and coming supercar. That probably means you would be seeing it real soon in the likes of the Camry and Highlander in the future.

Until then, we will have to wait and see how this new technology fairs in the government crash tests. In theory, the seatbelt airbag should help to distribute the force of an impact across the passenger's body and therefore reduce the trauma that is associated with impact. There isn't a lot of detail on how the airbag inflates, but the seatbelts are said to operate like a normal seat belt AND be compatible with child seats.

Bottom line--The next phase in automotive safety is coming and Ford is trying to live up to their new image by being on the leading edge.

Conan checks out the brand new Ford Taurus SHO, and compares it to his old one!

To watch the video visit:

http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/taurus-vs-taurus-102909/1170963/

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