Ford and Navistar have had a long and arduous relationship with each other, with the latter supplying diesel V8 engines for use in Ford's largest consumer-grade trucks. Early 7.3-liter units performed fine, but the updated 6.0-liter V8 engine was notoriously problematic. That cost Ford dearly and has tainted its tenuous contract with Navistar. While the engine issues seem to have been resolved with the latest 6.4-liter twin-turbocharged units, those older mills are still giving Ford fits. A panel of judges recently ruled in favor of Kenneth E. Corder of Louisville, KY, who purchased a new diesel-powered Ford truck in 2004. Corder's truck, however, had an engine that manufactured in 2003. This isn't at all uncommon, as automakers will use the parts they have on hand whenever possible. Unfortunately, the '03 model-year engines had a rather bad reputation, and despite the fact that Corder has never had a problem with his, he brought a suit against the Blue Oval in 2005 for not disclosing the engine's date of manufacture. The most recent set of judges agreed with Corder in a two-to-one split, so it looks as if Ford will be going to court.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

GM thinks that it has learned the lesson not to fall behind on technology and won't make that same mistake again. It's for this reason that the Volt is such a big deal for the automaker. Depending on how the next few years play out, though, we will either look back on Ford and realize just how smart the company was or just how deeply its head was stuck in the sand. It seems that Ford believes it has a solid position in hybrid technology and doesn't see an immediate need to be a leader in the development of a plug-in.

Instead, the Blue Oval is content to sit back and let cross-town rival GM and Toyota take the lead. In the meantime, Ford will continue to churn out hybrid versions of its Escape SUV and will introduce a new Fusion hybrid shortly. Hopefully, Ford will be able to play catch-up if the PHEV technology proves popular, otherwise, it could find itself in the same position as GM currently finds itself: as a technology-laggard.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Ford F-150

Another large, powerful V8 engine program has bitten the dust. After GM made the decision to axe its high-tech DOHC V8, it became obvious that automakers are beginning to see the luster disappear from the classic V8 engine architecture. Ford, for its part, has announced plans to replace many of its large eight cylinder engines with new members of its EcoBoost engine family. The latest nail in the V8's coffin may also be coming from the Blue Oval, as it's now asked suppliers to stop working on a new 6.2 liter eight cylinder which was slated for its line of F-Series trucks.

Considering that Ford has already invested a large sum of money into the engine, we would be surprised to see it go away entirely. For this reason, Ford could reduce the displacement of the engine and could even regain lost power by equipping it with the EcoBoost technology. Whatever the case, it's clear that the future will bring smaller engines with fewer cylinders, even in pickup trucks.

[Sources: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Click on the image for more high-res shots

Up for auction today on eBay is an extremely interesting 1981 Ford Fairmont. It's not interesting because it's a Ford Fairmont... 'cause they're not all that interesting in and of themselves, are they? What makes this one special is that it's electric. While the seller claims that it was converted by NASA, we can't seen to find any evidence to support this claim via the internet, which usually at least sheds a little light on most any subject. We did, however, locate a DOE document which shows that the vehicle underwent testing by the Army Mobility Equipment Research and Development Command. Whatever the case, the seller also says that it has a "top speed around 65 to 85 easily," a claim we also find to be a bit dubious, especially considering that the current owner has never driven it or even seen it run.

Still, this car is so peculiar that it managed to make it onto Jalopnik's Project Car Hell series, which has to at least count for something right? Not only that, but the car it's up against was another one of our awesome eBay finds too, the electric AMC Hornet which, like the Fairmont, has no batteries. How very meta. Even if you have no interest in the car, you owe it to yourself to check it out just to read the description. Enjoy!


[Source: eBay Motors]

The Australian auto market is an interesting beast. Many of the big players in America offer vehicles there which are completely different from what is available stateside. Ford and General Motors have continued to develop large, rear-wheel-drive passenger cars for the Australian market, and these have recently proven desirable in the states again. New fuel economy regulations, though, may put an end to the idea of importing Australian-designed Ford and Holden vehicles into America. In fact, even the Australians may find it tough to keep these vehicles on the road. Federal industry minister Kim Carr would like to help Holden and Ford make their vehicles more fuel efficient, which could mean an abrupt halt to vehicles like the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore in their current forms. Incentives are being provided which could bring engines like Ford's 3.5 liter Duratec engine to Australia, in both normally aspirated form and even equipped with the new EcoBoost technology. These direct injected and turbocharged mills produce gobs of power while offering a slight increase in fuel efficiency.

[Source: GoAuto]

According to Ford's President of the Americas, Mark Fields, plug-in hybrid vehicles need to be a "national priority" and the United States government should be offering assistance for their development. Fields goes on to say that the governments of competing nations are funding the development of the technology needed to introduce PHEVs, especially batteries. As it stands, most hybrid batteries are produced in factories overseas by companies outside the U.S. If this trend continues, Fields suggests that a continued purchase of these batteries would merely be shifting our foreign dependence on oil to a foreign dependence on batteries. For this reason, the Ford executive calls on increased funding from Washington for high-tech batteries as well as tax breaks and incentives in order to give consumers additional reason to purchase the fuel-saving technology. We would think that high gas prices are effectively doing just that, but it is true that the tax breaks for hybrid vehicles may have contributed to some early sales.

Field's speech, which was made at the Plug-In Electric Vehicles 2008: What Role for Washington? conference on July 11, is a pretty interesting read, and you can find the entire thing pasted after the break.

American car buyers have been turning away from large trucks and SUVs for a while now, and Ford executives think they know what did it: $3.50 for a gallon of gasoline.

Automotive News (subs req'd) reports that Ford CEO Alan Mulally spoke last night to automotive reporters and revealed that his company's internal sales data from early May (combined with earlier reports) shows that the move toward smaller vehicles "is more dramatic and permanent than previously projected," in AN's words. Mulally said that the $3.50 level was when buying shifts "really started to move." Ford's U.S. pickup sales numbers dropped from 14.1 percent of its retail sales in 2007 to 13 percent in early 2008 to 11 percent in April to just 9 percent so far in May. SUV sales dropped as well (from 8.4 to 6.8 to 5.2 to 4.4 percent in the same time frames). Looking to the future, Ford is estimating that U.S. gas prices will sit somewhere between $3.75 and $4.25 a gallon for the rest of this year and next.

[Source: Automotive News (subs req'd)]

The second generation of the baby of Ford's European lineup is going kinetic when it arrives later this year. The new Ka shares a platform with the Fiat 500 and Panda, but it has a look totally in keeping with its stablemates. The kinetic design language common to other current Euro-Fords translates remarkably well to the diminutive dimensions. The Ka will be built at Fiat's assembly plant in Poland. Ford's mini-car will also share engines with the Italian-branded cars. Four cylinder engines of 1.3L MultiJet diesel or 1.2L gasoline varieties will be offered. The new Ka will debut in November of this year. For now at least there are no plans to offer the Ka in the U.S. market.

[Source: OmniAuto.it]

Ford announced during the 2008 SAE World Congress in Detroit that it's investing a bunch of money in researching nanotechnology for developing paints, plastics, light metals and catalysts that will allow reduced vehicle weight and improved fuel economy. The idea is to use nanoparticles dispersed in existing materials to improve properties of those materials.

Examples of this technology are potential new alloys that could make engines lighter, or a thermally sprayed nano-coating that could replace the heavier cast iron liners that provide the necessary wear resistance of cylinder bores in aluminum block engines. Then there's improved surface coating for the vehicle's sheetmetal and nanotechnology in lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells.

[Source: Ford]

While many high-end autos are boasting seven or even eight gears in their transmissions, mainstream vehicles often are saddled with units including only half that many. The lack of mechanical gear ratios is rather detrimental to fuel economy, so we're happy to see that Ford is launching more six-speed units for both front- and rear-wheel-drive applications. The new 2009 F-150 will feature a six-speed, and considering the huge sales numbers of that vehicle, the 4 to 6 percent improvement in fuel efficiency on average should translate into a good deal of fuel savings. Also slated for six-speeders are the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariners when powered by the gasoline engine. The hybrids will continue to use a CVT.

Ford is also planning on bringing their dual-clutch Powershift transmission to America for upcoming models. The Powershift is available oversees already in the Euro Focus and is capable of providing a 10 percent decrease in fuel mileage.

Two activist shareholder groups who work together in an attempt to force automakers to care about green issues - the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and the Investor Network on Climate Risk Network (which includes the Connecticut State Treasurer's office) - have backed off of Ford. The groups are pleased with Ford's announcement that details how it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in the next dozen years. The groups had targeted FoMoCo for a shareholder resolution but Ford's public comments have put such plans on hold - the two groups even issued a joint press release (pasted after the break) that praises Ford's actions. Sue Cischke, who's been more than willing to talk to AutoblogGreen in the past, met with the activist groups last month, Reuters reports, and talked to them about how Ford will green up its offerings through spending most of its $6b annual R&D budget on technology that ups MPG or lowers CO₂ numbers.

While Ford has earned a reprieve here, GM remains in the groups' sights. We'll know more by the time GM's annual meeting takes place in June.

Wind-power is proving a popular choice for automakers in their quest to curb costs and present an environmentally-aware public face. Nissan has eight turbines at its Sunderland plant, Toyota has one planned for its Flintshire, Wales factory and even Chrysler is investing in a wind project at its Chelsea Proving Grounds in Michigan.

While that may seem like a decent effort they will have to do better than that if they want to match the initiative of Ford at its Dagenham Diesel Center. Already supplied with 100 percent wind-generated electricity for its existing operations, expansion plans for a 1.4/1.6-litre Duratorq TDCi engine line means they're adding a third wind turbine to supply the extra needed power. The new installation will be handled, as before, by Ecotricity and should produce 1.8 megawatts. Check out the press release from Ford for all the details after the jump.

Click the S-Max for a high-res gallery

Ford has already sold 3000 Euro-market Focus ECOnetic models prior to the vehicle's official on-sale date. Many of these units are headed to businesses interested in lowering their fleets' carbon footprints. Because of the low added cost, the vehicles are proving to be more popular than expected; popular enough that Ford is rethinking how many ECOnetic Mondeos that they need to make. The Focus ECOnetic emits just 114 g/km of CO₂, and the new Mondeo is rated at less than 140g/km.

In other related news, Roelant de Waard, head of Ford U.K., says that an ECOnetic S-Max is a possibility, but don't expect any hybrids from Ford's outpost in Blighty. Instead, the EurOval is looking at stop/start technology and low-emission diesels, which have a proven track record of selling well in Europe.

[Source: Business Car]

How much would you pay to bump up your car's miles per gallon rating up by 25 percent? Back in 1974, Car and Driver discovered that just $11 (about $50 when adjusted for inflation) was enough to make a Ford Pinto achieve this increase. The changes, discovered and posted by our friends at Ecomodder, didn't touch the engine and included removing fan blades, installing a front air dam and partially blocking the grill, were cheap and effective. Not all can be performed on today's vehicles, but it just goes to show that even an economy car can be made more so by someone with the skills and a few bucks at hand.

[Source: Ecomodder / thanks to Darin]

We genuinely like the Ford Escape Hybrid, which was the first true hybrid SUV. But, the fact that the F-150 is the best-selling vehicle in the world hurts Ford when it comes to the overall fleet fuel economy. Like every automaker, Ford is quick to tout its own green efforts, like when they installed a green roof on their Dearborn plant. Unfortunately, that plant produces the F-150 truck, so the vehicles coming out of the factory are hardly shining beacons of eco-friendliness. For this reason and a few others, Ford made it onto Condé Nast Portfolio's list of the "Toxic Ten" companies. These companies were not chosen simply based on their harmfulness to the environment, but also on what they could be doing, but aren't, to fix the problems that they do have.

[Source: Condé Nast Portfolio via Motor Authority and Grist]