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Ford books $1.2B profit in second quarter on strength of trucks

Ford is rolling along nicely, with a positive second-quarter sales report and a $2.3 billion profit in North America. The Dearborn, Michigan-based manufacturer captured $1.2 billion globally from April to June, with a $177 million profit in Asia. Even in Europe, the land of doom and gloom for automakers not named Mazda, Ford saw some success as it lowered its expected full-year loss from $2 billion to $1.8 billion. The company lost $348 million in Europe during the second quarter, which, believe it or not, represents a $56-million improvement over 2012.
According to the report on CNBC, Ford enjoyed a three-percent increase in pre-market trading thanks to the news. The strong demand for the F-150 propelled growth in the US market, while Ford's 47-percent increase in Asian sales can be attributed to the new EcoSport crossover and Kuga (Ford Escape in the US) arriving in the somewhat fragile Chinese market.
Pre-tax profits for Ford are expected to be in the neighborhood of $8 billion by the end of the year, with sales the US, Europe, and China all looking up. The company also shifted $4.78 billion of asset-backed debt in the form of bonds, according to a report by Bloomberg. This move came amidst rumors of the Federal Reserve cutting back on its $85-billion-per-month bond purchases. Ford wasn't alone among automakers looking to sell off debt, though, as Mercedes-Benz and Nissan shifted around $1 billion each in bonds relating to auto loans.

After Years Of Delays, Rear Visibility Requirements Move Closer To Reality

Regulations that would require automakers to improve rear-view visibility on all new cars and light trucks are nearing completion after six years of delays. The U.S. Department of Transportation sent its proposed rear-visibility rules to the Obama administration for review on Christmas Day. The White House Office of Management and Budget now must finalize the regulations. The rule are intended to minimize the risk of pedestrian deaths from vehicles in reverse, a type of accident that disproportionately affects children. Already in 2014, two children have died from cars backing over them, driven in each case by the children's father. Specifics of the Transportation Department's proposal are not available during the review, but the rules are expected to compel automakers to install rear-view cameras as mandatory equipment on all new vehicles. That's what safety advocates have wanted all along. Thought they were pleased the proposed ruling had finally been issued, there was some worry Friday the final rules would omit the rear-view camera mandate. "We're encouraged, but we're also a little concerned about speculation the rear-view camera may not be in there," said Janette Fennell, the president and founder of Kids and Cars, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children in and around vehicles. "I'm wondering where that might be coming from." On Thursday, The Automotive News had reported the possibility the new standards could offer an alternative to rear-view cameras, such as redesigned mirrors, that improved visibility. The Office of Management and Budget typically completes its reviews of new rules in 90 days, although that can be extended. OMB officials said Friday they do not comment on pending rules. The intent of the rules is to enhance rear visibility for drivers and prevent pedestrian deaths. Approximately 200 pedestrians are backed over in the United States each year, according to estimates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Accidents Mostly Affect Children Roughly half the victims are children younger than age five. A government analysis concluded approximately half the victims -– 95 to 112 -– could be saved with new regulations. Yet the rules have arrived at a glacial pace. President George W. Bush signed legislation that had been passed with bipartisan Congressional support in 2008. But automakers have fought the idea of adding rear-view cameras, saying it is too expensive.

Daily Driver: 2015 Ford Edge Sport

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog press fleet, reviewed by the staffers that drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2015 Ford Edge Sport, reviewed by Adam Morath. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. Watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. VIDEO TRANSCRIPT [00:00:00] Hi. I'm Adam Morath for Autoblog and in today's Daily Driver we're with the 2015 Ford Edge. It's been completely redesigned and I really think that it needed it because this was always kind of the last car to come to mind when I was considering all of Ford's lineup. It was sort of forgotten. I don't think that will be the case anymore. It looks great. They revamped the exterior. The first thing I noticed walking up to the car when they first dropped it off was [00:00:30] the great job they've done with the taillights. They've got a very high tech look to them. You have LED accent lighting that surrounds the tail lamps and then a light bar that spans the entire deck lid. It looks pretty cool, very angular, a lot sportier than the previous models. We also have the optional HID headlights so if you combine that with what I've already told you about with the [00:01:00] tail lamps, and also the ambient lighting inside this vehicle ... It just feels like the lighting in general was very well considered on the Edge and gives it a very modern feel. The nice design continues to the interior as well. You've got leather panels with contrast stitching on the sport model. You've got a nice center console that actually has some storage underneath it, so it's sort of a floating center console. The only thing is there is still a little bit of cheap plastic [00:01:30] used on the interior. That's a common complaint of automotive journalists worldwide, but this one I can see already has a few scratches on it. You can also get this vehicle with 20-inch aluminum wheels or 21-inch matte black aluminum wheels. Here we've got them wrapped in Perelli. I haven't been on a track or anything where you could really get a sense of the performance, but again, that just adds to the sporty look of the Edge in the sport trim level. It has the new 2.7 [00:02:00] liter Eco Boost V6 and I have been really happy with this powertrain. It puts out 315 horsepower, 350 pound feet of torque, and that's that twin turbo working for you. It helps with acceleration and passing at highway speed, so it checks both boxes there.