2013 Ford F-150 Xlt on 2040-cars

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2015 Ford F-150 pricing announced, aluminum-bodied truck up just $395

The eagerly anticipated Ford F-150 has had its 2015 pricing announced, adding only a small amount to the pickup's total cost, despite its weight-saving aluminum body. The XL and XLT entry level models only see a $395 boost over the heavier, current-generation, 2014 truck.
The XL starts at $26,615 while the XLT rings up at $31,890. The increase for Lariat is up a similarly negligible $895, to $39,880. Going up the ladder, meanwhile, the leather-intensive King Ranch sees the biggest jump of the F-150 family, with prices increasing $3,515, to $49,460. Finally, picking up the top-end Platinum trim will cost an extra $3,055, with prices starting at $52,155.
The higher prices are being blamed not only on the aluminum bodies, which trim up to 700 pounds of body fat, but on increased levels of standard equipment. While we were expecting a price hike, the fact that the 2015 F-150's volume trims - Ford spokesman Mike Levine told Reuters that the XL and XLT alone cover 70 percent of F-150 sales - have had less than a $400 increase is hugely impressive.

2016 Ford Explorer embarks at the LA Auto Show

Twenty-five years since its debut in 1990, Ford will celebrate a quarter century of Explorer models next year with the debut of a refreshed 2016 model at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show on November 19. The Blue Oval is keeping mum on hard details about the updated SUV for now, but the brand promises, "a new look, added capability and additional driver-assist technology," in its announcement.
Company marketing boss Jim Farley elaborated a little more on what to expect. "The new Explorer is still the SUV America fell in love with - a vehicle built for the perfect family adventure," he said in the release that you're welcome to read down below.
An updated Explorer is a pretty big deal for Ford's bottom line. Worldwide, SUVs and crossovers account for about 23 percent of Ford's sales, and the segment is projected to grow to around 29 percent by 2020. Ford further says that SUVs and CUVs are the world's quickest growing segment with demand up 88 percent since 2008.

How that awesome Mustang R/C car chase vid was made

We've reported on a few R/C car chase videos in the past. One in particular that stands out as a favorite is Zach King's "The Cliché RC Action Chase." It featured a pair of Ford Mustang coupes racing through a cardboard city, plowing into outdoor patios and busting through construction zones. It was wonderfully creative and fun to watch, yet we know there was more to its creation than a bunch of guys fooling around with a camera one afternoon.
Turns out we were right, as evidenced by this video produced by Ford that takes us behind the scenes of Zach's creation. The young filmmaker explains why he chose the Mustang to star in his video, as well as how the cardboard sets were created, what equipment they used for shooting and what it was like when his video went viral. Ford found the young filmmaker and produced the followup as part of its Mustang Countdown video series, which will see a new video about the Mustang culture released every week until the original muscle car's anniversary on April 17, 2014.
Want to make an RC chase video of your own? Yeah, we do too. Watch the behind-the-scenes video below (you can refresh yourself on the mini feature film, too) before you get started.