2007 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor Sedan 4-door 4.6l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Carmakers, NHTSA to unveil auto-emergency braking agreement tomorrow

Happy St. Patrick's Day Eve. Tomorrow, there will be green beer, corned beef and cabbage, and automatic emergency braking for all. Weird combo, we know. But on St. Patty's we can expect an official announcement from a pact of automakers making auto-braking systems standard equipment by 2022. That's per a report from Reuters, which cites three sources familiar with the plans. Originally announced in September 2015 by 10 automakers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the agreement is expected to be even larger when the details are unveiled tomorrow. According to Reuters, the manufacturers of 99 percent of the US domestic market's vehicles will be represented by the new agreement. It's believed that standard AEB systems could prevent thousands of accidents across the country. Expect more on the official announcement when it's made. Related Video:

Ford's first PHEV in Europe could be C-Max

Ford could start selling a plug-in hybrid in Europe pretty soon, according to at least one of its executives. Whether it's willing to do so is another story. But if the market perks up, so will the company. The automaker can "quickly" develop a plug-in hybrid version of its Mondeo, the sister car to the Ford Fusion, Automotive News Europe says, citing Ford executive Uli Koesters. The subject of Ford selling plug-in hybrids in Europe is more vital than ever since Volkswagen recently started selling its first PHEV (a Golf) there. VW will also debut a Passat PHEV next year. Koesters was less certain about whether there was sufficient European demand to warrant a production PHEV from Ford. Europe's biggest-selling plug-in hybrid through the first half of the year was the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. That model, according to JATO Dynamics, moved almost 9,000 units through June. Toyota sold almost 4,300 Prius Plug-in Hybrids in Europe during that time period. And we can't be sure Ford's first European PHEV will be the Modeo/Fusion, either. In fact, Ford's first plug-in hybrid for Europe is more likely to be the C-Max, John Gardiner, a Ford spokesman in Europe, told AutoblogGreen. He would only say that it would be sold "in selected markets soon," without being more specific. Ford's two PHEVs in the US have been selling well this year. Through September, sales of the Fusion Energi PHEV almost tripled to 9,323 units, while Ford C-Max Energi PHEV sales were up 51 percent to 6,486 units.

Second-tier UAW workers promoted for first time after Ford hits quota

The United Auto Workers put out a statement on Friday that 55 Ford workers chosen by seniority would be moved from the Tier 2, entry-level pay rate of around $19 per hour to the Tier 1, non-entry-level rate of about $28 per hour. One of the stipulations in the 2011 UAW-Ford agreement was that only 20-percent of the total hourly workforce could be paid the Tier 2 wages agreed upon in 2007; after that, those workers had to be moved to Tier 1. Even so, the new Tier 1 status makes them less expensive to Ford than veteran Tier 1 workers because they receive fewer benefits. However, Automotive News had reported that same day that Ford was 69 workers shy of the limit, and when AN asked Ford about the situation Ford said it had "some room" on the entry-level roster. If workers do move to the higher pay grade, it will be the first time that's happened since the two-tier system was agreed. But it sounds like there's going to be some haggling between the UAW and Ford before that happens. Ford is the only one of the Detroit 3 automakers to have to work with a cap, since it didn't go through bankruptcy proceedings during The Great Recession; General Motors and Chrysler jettisoned the cap in 2009. GM is said to have 16 percent of its hourly workers at Tier 2 while Chrysler has 42 percent, but Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has long been opposed to the two-wage system. The UAW is preparing for its 2015 negotiations with the US automakers. It wants to eliminate the difference in pay by going to the higher scale, if there is a consensus among automakers it seems to be that they also want a single wage, but less than the higher scale, with the addition of profit-based bonuses. The recent statement from the labor union is below. UAW President Dennis Williams and UAW-Ford Vice President Jimmy Settles announced today that the union is delivering on its promise to convert workers DETROIT, Jan. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- UAW President Dennis Williams and UAW-Ford Vice President Jimmy Settles announced today that the union is delivering on its promise to convert workers making entry-level wages to traditional employees. "The 2011 UAW-Ford agreement allows for a contractual limit of entry-level employees. Once that threshold is surpassed, entry-level employees convert by seniority to 'regular, non-entry level employment.' At this time, fifty-five UAW-Ford workers will receive the wage increases, which put them in the category of non entry-level employment.