1999 Ford E-250 Econoline Xl Extended Cargo Van 2-door 5.4l on 2040-cars

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Ladies Love It: Ford Fiesta wins Womens World Car of the Year

It's official: A panel of female automotive writers has chosen the Ford Fiesta 1.0-liter EcoBoost as the Womens World Car of the Year, and it beat tough competition like the Mazda CX-5, Range Rover and Porsche Boxster S for the overall top spot.
The CX-5 and Range Rover won the SUV and Luxury Car categories, respectively, and the Boxster S laid claim to the Sports Car category, beating the runner up Audi RS5 and third place Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ (or Scion FR-S). The Audi Allroad was named the Family car of the year.
The panel consisted of 18 female automotive writers from around the world tasked with picking the best car in each of eight categories, including top vehicle overall, using criteria that women utilize when shopping for a car. That includes safety, value-for-money, aesthetic appearance, storage space, child-friendliness, ease-of-driving, color, sex appeal and environmental footprint.

Ford Q1 profits dragged down by warranty costs

General Motors isn't the only Detroit automaker posting falling profits in the first quarter. Ford just released its Q1 2014 financial data, and it reported a net income of $989 million, down $622 million from Q1 2013. The drop is partially blamed on higher warranty and recall expenses than the company had anticipated.
Financially, Ford suffered a rough quarter almost across the board. Its pre-tax profit of $1.4 billion was also down $765 million from a year ago. Things were even worse in the North American market where operating profit fell significantly to $1.5 billion, down from $2.392 billion in Q1 2013. However, its global revenue ticked up slightly to $35.9 billion, from $35.6 billion in this period in 2013.
Ford admitted that it spent about $900 million on expenses that it hadn't planned for during this quarter. According to Reuters, the company paid about $400 million in additional warranty and recall costs in North America. The automaker didn't explain why the costs were so much higher than expected. However, in the last three months, Ford has had several recalls, including on the 2001-2004 Escape for rust, Explorer for its steering, Edge for its fuel line and others.

Ford C-Max Solar Energi takes a recharging station wherever it goes

Companies ranging in size from small startups to major automakers have been experimenting with solar-powered charging stations for EVs and plug-in hybrids. And, of course, people have been powering vehicles with onboard solar panels for quite some time, too. Still, Ford's new C-Max Solar Energi Concept shows the promise of a truly practical implementation of solar on a production vehicle, and it may not be as far off in the future as we had thought.
As we reported a few days ago, the Solar concept makes use of a "concentrator lens" that focuses sunlight onto the Ford's roof-mounted solar panels. The special lens follows the rays of the sun to maximize the amount of charge being fed to the batteries of the car, taking about a day to fully charge the 21-mile, all-electric range of the C-Max Energi. Ford data suggests that combination might be enough to power 75 percent of all trips made by a statistically average driver. In turn, using the sun to power a vehicle could reduce yearly C02 emissions by up to four metric tons when compared with the driver of an average gasoline-powered sedan.
We've got live images of the C-Max Solar Energi Concept, jauntily tilted on its display to best present it's signature solar panels, straight from the CES floor.