1999 Ford Ranger 4x4 Extended Cab 4dr. Flex Fuel 3.0l V6 Automatic on 2040-cars

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Ford and Mercedes join Renault in French emissions investigation

The French government is investigating certain models from Ford, Mercedes-Benz, and Renault because they allegedly produce more nitrogen oxide than the country's pollution rules allow, according to Automotive News, citing a French newspaper. After VW's emissions scandal, French regulators began checking more vehicles for evidence of defeat devices and excessive real-world pollution. According to Automotive News, the Mercedes S350 allegedly showed inconsistent results across these tests, and a Ford C-Max had NOx levels five times over the limit. The Renault Captur crossover, Espace, and an unnamed utility vehicle also had results that were too high. The French testing for this investigation includes an on-road emissions check that's not part of the EU's normal evaluations, which some automakers claim is unfair. "Unofficial on-road testing has varying conditions and can produce significantly different results," a Ford of Europe spokesman told Automotive News. Renault representatives met with French officials on January 18 to explain the situation. The company later submitted a plan to recall 15,800 examples of the diesel Captur, and said it would offer a voluntary software upgrade for about 700,000 other vehicles, according to Automotive News. Representatives from Ford and Mercedes will meet with the government soon, too. Renault's stock price plunged last week after investors heard that French regulators searched three of the automaker's sites as part of the emissions investigation. The stockholders feared an environmental scandal like the one currently embroiling Volkswagen. There's one major difference – as of now, there's no evidence Renault equipped any of the polluting models with defeat devices. Related Video:

Gulf-liveried Ford GT40 takes triumphant lap of the track

Ford is heavily rumored to return to Le Mans in 2016 with the latest GT for the 50th anniversary of the GT40's first victory there. Even if the new model doesn't come back to the track, it's worth commemorating this classic racer's accomplishments, and watching one lap Miller Motorsports Park is a perfect opportunity to do that. This is almost too short of a video for the great cinematography on display. The camera floats over the curves of a Gulf-liveried GT40, while text and archival interviews tell the car's story. Then, it's finally time for the engine to fire up and get on track. The racecar highlighted here is quite fascinating, too. It started competing as a GT40-based Mirage in 1967 with the famous orange and blue color scheme and was converted fully to a Ford in '68, according to Miller Motorsports Park. In 1970 Steve McQueen bought this one to be the camera car in Le Mans, and it has been part of the Larry H. Miller Total Performance Museum since 2012. This clip is actually a promotion for a website called Inside Sales, but with the impressive production values, it's easy to imagine this as the teaser trailer for Ford's possible return to Le Mans, as well. Related Video:

Ford Q3 pretax profits drop to $1.18B

Following positive third quarter financial results recently from General Motors, rival Ford took a tumble in Q3. The automaker posted pre-tax profits of $1.18 billion, compared to about $2.59 billion in Q3 2013, a drop of around 54 percent. Net income also suffered with $835 million made in the quarter, versus $1.272 billion last year, a decline of about 34 percent. The Blue Oval blamed the gloomy figures on three reasons in its release: "lower volume, higher warranty costs and adverse balance sheet exchange effects."
There were problems of one kind or another in practically every region. North America experienced higher warranty costs than expected, partially due to recalls. The sales volume for the quarter was 665,000 units, versus 725,000 in Q3 2013, and pre-tax results amounted to $1.41 billion versus $2.296 billion last year.
South America and Europe both posted worse pre-tax results than last year. On the bright side, European volume was up slightly to 321,000 vehicles, from 303,000 in Q3 2013. The Middle East and Africa also lost $15 million, but that was an improvement compared to the $25 million loss previously experienced in this region.