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Ford announces four recalls, 1.4M vehicles affected

Ford is taking a bit of the spotlight away from General Motors, announcing a major group of recall campaigns, covering a total of 1.4 million vehicles built between 2006 and 2013.
Let's start with the big one, which covers the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner and, according to The Detroit News, Ford-built Mazda Tribute CUVs. 915,216 vehicles are covered, all of which were built in model years 2008 to 2011. 736,000 vehicles are in the US, while Canada then Mexico make up the vast majority of the remainder. The problem is due to an issue with the torque sensor in the steering column, which could lead to sudden power steering failure. Manual steering would still be available, though.
"Dealers will perform one of three service fixes, depending upon what diagnostic codes are shown when the vehicle is taken to the dealer," Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker wrote to Autoblog in an email. "They will either update software for the power steering control module and the instrument cluster module; replace the torque sensor; or replace the steering column, which includes upgraded power steering control module software."

Detroit Three autoworkers could get huge bonuses

For a long time, being a line worker for one of the Detroit Three has meant living with an uncertain future. With the health of American automakers on the rise, though, things are also starting to look up for the men and women building the cars. The latest sign that things aren't bad? Big profit-sharing checks.
According to The Detroit News, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler could end up paying over $800 million to 130,000 workers as part of a profit-sharing plan. According to The News, the economic impact of these profits in Michigan alone could exceed $400 million, besting the NFL's Super Bowl, MLB's All-Star Game and the NHL's Winter Classic for their economic impact.
This is the third straight year the Detroit Three have issued profit-sharing checks to UAW employees, and for many workers, the checks are as close as they'll get to a raise, due to the most recent contract between the union and the manufacturers. On average, employees at GM and Ford receive $1 for every $1 million in North American (not just the US) pre-tax profits. Chrysler, meanwhile, gets a similar deal, although the Auburn Hills-based company calculates profit sharing using 85 percent of the brand's global profits.

2016 Ford Focus RS leaked ahead of official debut

We won't officially see the new Ford Focus RS until the Blue Oval shows it to the world at an event on Tuesday, but here it is ahead of time, courtesy of the folks at Evo. As you can see, this is one hot little hatch, and if Evo's story is to be believed, those aggressive looks will be backed up with some pretty serious performance. Power is said to come from Ford's 2.3-liter EcoBoost inline four-cylinder engine, though the magazine's estimate of 250 horsepower seems awfully conservative to us (considering that's less than the current Focus ST). If earlier reports are to be believed, we think the RS will come packing more like 300 hp, if not more. For the first time, the Focus RS will use all-wheel drive with brake-operated torque-vectoring, and Evo says that up to 70 percent of the engine's power can be sent to the rear wheels. Hitting 60 miles per hour will reportedly take less than five seconds. Otherwise, it's business as usual, with a mean-looking exterior complete with the necessary aero bits (notice that wing!), and inside, we can see a beefy set of Recaro chairs. That's really all we know for now, but stay tuned for more when the Focus RS makes its official debut in the not-too-distant future. Related Video: