1956 Ford F-100 on 2040-cars

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Even Ford executives had issues with MyFord Touch

MyFord Touch is one of the auto industry's more controversial features. The media broadly panned the infotainment system developed with Microsoft for its slow responses and reliance on voice commands to navigate its deep menus. Oh, and Ford executives weren't big fans, either. Newly revealed court documents in a California class-action lawsuit demonstrate the level of venom Ford employees, both big and small, reserved for the Blue Oval's infotainment system. An error caused Bill Ford's navigation system to crash, leaving the family scion stuck on the side of the road in an unfamiliar area. The documents, unearthed by Forbes, detail current CEO Mark Fields' aggravations with MFT, too. A mechanic emailed an image of a cracked infotainment screen on an Edge to one of Ford's top Sync engineers, Kenneth Williams, suggesting "Mark Fields may have been a little aggravated with the system." But Ford and Fields' issues are nothing compared to the woes of the engineers that had to work on MFT. In a collection of emails obtained by Forbes, one engineer called the system "a polished turd," while another simply said, "These poor customers." And after one engineer suggested using a photo of Ford's Oakville Assembly Plant – home of the Edge, Flex, Lincoln MKX, and MKT production – as a background for the system, one of his coworkers said in an email that someone should instead Photoshop the image to read "abandon hope all ye who enter here," the Detroit News reports. Another summed up the problem, saying: "Ford's quality reputation is completely on the line ... another model year with the same crap is not acceptable." MyFord Touch almost single-handedly torpedoed Ford's reputation in widely reported quality metrics, including JD Power and Consumer Reports. Ford responded with a refreshed Sync3, a wildly improved rethink of its infotainment system that is far more responsive and easier to live with every day. Related Video: News Source: Forbes, The Detroit NewsImage Credit: Ford Government/Legal Ford Lincoln Technology Mark Fields sync 3

Second trailer for 'Ford vs. Ferrari' hints at a good racing drama

The second trailer for the movie "Ford vs. Ferrari" just dropped, and ooooh, the movie that director James Mangold calls "Butch and Sundance in the world of racing" is looking good. We previously covered Entertainment Weekly's sneak peak into the film, and we've also included the first trailer, below, in case you missed it. The new trailer, above, focuses on Ford's motivation to get into the race, which was Enzo Ferrari backing out of a deal to sell his car company to Ford when Ferrari realized Ford wouldn't let him run Ferrari's racing department the way he wanted. And with Enzo's flair for final words, he apparently sent Ford emissary Lee Iacocca off with various insults of Ford's cars, factories and CEO. The second trailer lays into the battles within Ford over the GT40 program, specifically the clashes of ego and temperament between Henry Ford II, GT40 impresario Carroll Shelby, star driver Ken Miles, and various Ford Motorsport functionaries. At one point, Henry Ford II mentions to Carroll Shelby that Ford Motor Company knows how to go to war, referring to the battle with Ferrari. Based on the trailer, the more pressing matter might have been getting everyone to stop waging war on everyone else. The second trailer is below. The film, based on an original screenplay, stars Tracy Letts as Henry Ford II, Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby, Christian Bale as Ken Miles, Caitriona Balfe as Mollie Miles, and Jon Bernthal as Lee Iacocca, and is due in theaters Nov. 15. If the movie ends up turning you off, though, you can hang out for the television series about the same events, to be based on A.J. Baime's book, "Go Like Hell." This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Ford starting up 2.0L EcoBoost engine production in Ohio

Joe Hinrichs, Ford's President of The Americas (pictured above), announced today that in late 2014, the automaker will be building the 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder at its Cleveland Engine Plant, a move requiring a $200-million investment and the hiring of 450 new employees. European-built Ford products will continue to source this engine from the Valencia, Spain plant where all of these EcoBoost four-cylinder engines are currently built, and the new Cleveland engines will be used for all North American-made models.
Ford is planning to build its popular EcoBoost engines regionally to maximize production capacity and meet customer demand. Last year, Ford sold 334,364 vehicles with EcoBoost engines in the US alone, and that number is expected to swell to more than 500,000 by the end of this year, with global sales expected to total 1.6 million. By 2015, Ford says that 95 percent of its nameplates will offer an EcoBoost engine.
One such vehicle that could be adding an EcoBoost engine, according to Automotive News, is none other than the 2015 Ford Mustang. The report says that Ford could use either the 2.0-liter EcoBoost or an upcoming 2.3-liter EcoBoost in the sixth-generation pony car.