2004 Ford Excursion Eddie Bauer Sport 6.0l Like New 1 Owner! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2015 Ford Mustang leaked in Autoweek

We would have to imagine that Ford knew it couldn't keep its 2015 Mustang under wraps for too long, and with only days to go before the pony car's official unveiling, the dam seems to be cracking. SVTPerformance.com member Screamin 40th just posted some images taken of the sixth-gen Mustang prominently featured in and on the cover of the December 9 issue of Autoweek magazine.
These images show that recent renderings we saw weren't too far off. The face is just like what we saw in spy shots a few months back, but the rear of the car features some of its more striking cues. Starting with the pronounced haunches and hidden B-pillars, the rear view of the new Mustang might be its best with the ridged, three-bar taillights, a rear diffuser and the lack of a faux gas cap, which allows the galloping pony to be an even more prominent element against the black trim.
The images also reveal a small portion of the updated interior carrying over retro themes like the deep-dish steering wheel and dual-gauge instrument cluster, but it also adds some modern tech with a big infotainment displays and a clean center stack layout. No official word on powertrain or other specs, but while we can't make out most of the magazine's text, our eyes did catch mentions of an independent rear suspension and a 200-pound weight reduction.

Ford C-Max spot aimed squarely at Cadillac ELR 'Poolside' hubris [UPDATE]

If we had tried to predict the first video response to the controversial Poolside video for the Cadillac ELR, we would not have thought it would center on compost. But, hey, it's always nice to be reminded that the real world is sometimes better than fiction. Instead of the chic swagger of 'Poolside,' 'Anything Is Possible' is all about getting dirty. The new short in question is called Upside: Anything Is Possible and it promotes two things: Detroit Dirt and the Ford C-Max Energi. As in the ELR ad, Ford's plug-in C-Max only makes an appearance at the tail end of the spot, but instead of the chic swagger of Poolside, Anything Is Possible is all about getting dirty. The ad stars Pashon Murray, co-founder of Detroit Dirt, which takes natural waste from around Detroit, composts it into soil and then spreads that around "forgotten parcels" of Detroit to create urban farms. Detroit Dirt gets its bio-waste from a lot of sources, including the Detroit Zoological Society (all that herbivore manure has to go somewhere), Ford and General Motors, but this particular ad was the idea of Ford's PR agency, Team Detroit. It was a frenetic shoot, filmed with an LA-based director right after a big winter storm blew through Detroit, and Murray couldn't be happier with the result. "This was Ford Motor Company pushing my story, letting me tell the story that I believe in," Murray tells AutoblogGreen. "I get to help push this car and I get to tell my story." She says that the Team Detroit and Ford had to agree on the message, "from my understanding, [YouTube] is where they wanted to start, not where they wanted to finish." The ad is already getting a positive response on Twitter, so we won't be surprised if it shows up in more places soon. "It's not saying Ford is better than GM. It's telling the story of a black woman who's working hard in Detroit." As Detroit Dirt has off-screen support from both GM and Ford, it's unsurprising to hear Murray say that the video "is not a rivalry thing." She notes that the ad agency Team Detroit came to her and offered to tell the Detroit Dirt story using the framework of the GM ad. "It's a parody on this commercial, but it's not saying Ford is better than GM," she said. "It's telling the story of a black woman who's working hard in Detroit." What is that story? It's about urban farming, recovery and recycling. Murray tells us that for the last seven or eight years, she's been dedicated to sustainability.

FCA close to paying off debt, outperforming Ford in earnings

FCA boosting output of SUVs, trucks in U.S. Marchionne says the company no longer needs a merger partner FCA expects to pay off all debt this year "There's a very strong likelihood that we will outperform Ford" MILAN/DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler's shift to sell more trucks and SUVs boosted margins yet again in its North American profit center, making Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne confident he can hit most of the final targets of his five-year turnaround plan. FCA has been retooling some U.S. factories to boost output of lucrative sport-utility vehicles and trucks while ending production of some unprofitable sedans. This put the world's seventh-largest carmaker on track to become debt-free by the end of the year, and allowed Marchionne to make good on his promise to close the gap on larger U.S. rivals General Motors (GM) and Ford. "There's a very strong likelihood that we will outperform Ford in terms of operating earnings in 2018," Marchionne told analysts on an earnings call Thursday. "That's something that if I told any of us in the room here that would've been doable five years ago, nobody would have believed it." As the 65-year-old executive prepares to hand over the reins to an internal successor next year, he said the improvements mean the company no longer needed a partner to survive. The carmaker has often been the subject of merger speculation, especially after its unsuccessful 2015 attempt to tie up with GM. "The necessity to find a partner, to try and guarantee our survival, going forward, is put to bed. I mean we're done," Marchionne told analysts on a post-results conference call. North America accounted for 71 percent of earnings last quarter, and profit margins in the region rose to 8 percent from 7.1 percent a year earlier, even as shipments fell 3 percent. Meanwhile Ford's automotive margin for North America slipped to 6.8 percent, down from 8.5 percent a year earlier.FCA trimmed its expectations for 2018 revenues and forecast adjusted operating profit of at least 8.7 billion euros, at the lower end of a previously given range. Analysts said FCA's margin improvement was impressive, and it could be on the cusp of a big boost from its new Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee models and its Ram 1500 truck. FCA ready to pay off its debt But the Italian-American carmaker expects to cancel all debt during 2018 — possibly by the end of June — and generate around 4 billion euros in net cash by the end of the year.