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Ford and OMS bring military ride-and-drive program to Hockenheimring

This post is appearing on Autoblog Military, Autoblog's sub-site dedicated to the vehicles, aircraft and ships of the world's armed forces. It kind of goes without saying, but joining the military means you won't be enjoying quite as much leisure time as members of the civilian world. That said, when a chance to let your hair down does come along, servicemembers usually enjoy some very unique opportunities... like driving a new Ford Mustang and F-150 around Germany's Hockenheimring. Ford and the Overseas Military Sales Corporation, the on-base retailer for the Blue Oval and the same outfit that worked out a raffle program for servicemembers to purchase the limited-edition 50th Anniversary Mustang, put together the ride-and-drive program at Germany's second most famous circuit. The OMS allows military men and women to purchase vehicles for both on-base use and for pickup when they arrive back in the United States. "The Ford Driving Freedom ride-and-drive event is designed to introduce the new 2015 Ford Mustang and F-150 to military personnel who are stationed on US bases across Europe," Ford fleet sales manager Doug Walczak said in the attached statement. "It's the first time such an event has been held overseas." According to Ford, over 300 servicemen and women applied to take part in this pilot program, which was more than double what Ford and OMS had room for. With such an impressive response rate, it's no surprise that similar events could come to other US bases. Scroll down for the official press release from Ford. U.S. Military Personnel Take Ford Mustang, F-150 for a Ride at Hockenheimring Racetrack · Ford and the Overseas Military Sales Corporation host first-ever Ford Driving Freedom ride-and-drive event for U.S. military personnel stationed on bases across Europe · U.S. military personnel got the unique opportunity to drive the Ford F-150 and Ford Mustang on Hockenheimring racetrack in Germany · Ford has worked with Overseas Military Sales Corporation since 1995 to offer Ford and Lincoln vehicles for sale throughout the Americas, as well as in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, as well as on select Navy ships HOCKENHEIMRING, Germany, June 9, 2015 – Members of the U.S. military got the unique opportunity to take a test drive of the Ford F-150 and Mustangtoday at Germany's famed Hockenheimring racetrack.

Ford announces fix for 2021 Expedition and Lincoln Navigator fires

In the middle of May, Ford announced a recall of around 39,000 Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators from the 2021 model year due to fires starting under the hoods of the SUVs. At the time, Ford had received 16 incident reports, 14 of them happening with rental vehicles. The automaker cautioned owners to park their vehicles outside and away from structures while engineers figured out what was happening and how to fix the problem. Since that May announcement, five more fires have been reported, four of them rental vehicles, and there's been one burn injury. The company announced it understands the problem and has a fix, at the same time widening the scope of potentially affected vehicles. Instead of recalling 39,013 units built between December 1, 2020, and April 30, 2021, the recall now includes 66,221 vehicles assembled from July 27, 2020, to Aug. 31, 2021. The suspected culprit is a circuit board provided by a supplier that changed manufacturing location during the pandemic. Ford's press release on the matter stated that "circuit boards produced at this facility are uniquely susceptible to a high-current short." The affected vehicles are fitted with either an 800-watt or 700-watt cooling fan system. About a third of the recalled population are fitted with the former, and should get a quick fix at the dealer. On these SUVs, techs will inspect the battery junction box. If they find evidence of melting, they'll replace the whole box. If not, they'll simply remove the engine fan ground wire that runs to the battery junction box; since this ground relay is redundant, the change doesn't alter operation of the fans.  Owners with the 700-watt system might need to wait until September for a fix. These vehicles need an auxiliary relay box with a wire jumper, but the parts aren't available now.   Ford's notifying all owners via the FordPass app, and will follow up with owners of the 700-watt cooling system once the parts are in stock. Until their vehicles are fixed, Ford says the SUVs are safe to drive but that they should still be parked outside and away from structures. The somewhat mixed messaging — 'Yes, your cars are safe to drive, but they could catch fire so don't park them near anything flammable' — encouraged a group of owners to file suit against Ford. Owners with questions can contact Ford customer service at 866-436-7332 and reference recall No. 22S36.

Who sold the most heavy-duty pickups in 2012? PickupTrucks.com investigates

Domestic manufacturers enjoyed a good year for heavy-duty pickup sales in 2012. PickupTrucks.com has taken a close look at exactly how those sales broke down between each manufacturer and between three-quarter and one-ton pickups. Ford sold some 67,786 F-250 Super Duty models last year with the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD falling just behind at 56,359 units. The Ram 2500 HD came in third at 41,918, while the GMC Sierra 2500 HD earned itself fourth place with 27,616 deliveries. While Ford held onto the top spot in the one-ton market, Ram easily nailed down second place by selling more 3500 HD models last year than General Motors sold Silverado 3500 HD and Sierra 3500 HD trucks combined.
So, did GM manage to sell more trucks than Ford with its two brands? Very nearly. Ford sold a total of 119,338 heavy-duty pickups to GM's 111,555. Ram, meanwhile, moved a distant 77,583. But perhaps more interesting is the diesel take rate in this segment. PickupTrucks.com says 80 percent of all domestic one-ton trucks roll from the dealer lot with a turbo-diesel under the hood. Head over to the site for a closer look at the breakdown.