2010 Ford F150 Lariat on 2040-cars

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Ford GT Mk II at Goodwood, Bentley EXP 100 GT concept EV and driving the Hyundai Veloster N | Autoblog Podcast #588

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski and Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale. To kick things off, they talk about driving the Porsche Cayenne S, Hyundai Veloster N and Nissan Armada. Then they recap the Goodwood Festival of Speed, including the Ford GT Mk II that debuted there. Next up is news: the Bentley EXP 100 GT electric concept car, Ford canceling diesel for the Transit Connect and Elon Musk dismissing talk of a refresh for the Model S and Model X. Finally, they take to Reddit to help pick between a 2016 Audi S3 and a 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia. Autoblog Podcast #588 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: 2019 Porsche Cayenne S 2020 Hyundai Veloster N 2019 Nissan Armada Ford GT Mk II debuts at Goodwood, and other impressions from the event Bentley unveils EXP 100 GT electric concept car Ford cancels diesel engine for Transit Connect Tesla Model S and X wonÂ’t get a refresh Spend My Money: Audi or Alfa? Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:    

Ford hurt by 2015 F-150 production restraints

The new 2015 Ford F-150 came out of the gate strong for January 2015 with all F-Series sales up 17 percent for the month. However, February tempered those gains a bit with the model line dipping 1.2 percent, and the Ford brand itself dropped 1.7 percent year-over-year. The fall is being blamed in part on tight supply of the latest pickup. A major factor holding back the 2015 F-150 is that they are only currently being made at the Dearborn Truck Plant. The Kansas City factory is still changing over, and full supply from them both is expected by the middle of the year. Ford also just announced plans to hire an extra 1,550 people to build the pickups, including 900 in Kansas City. However, the downtime in the assembly changeover has caused about 90,000 units in lost production since mid-2014, according to The Detroit Free Press. It's not all bad news for the pickup, though. The latest F-150 made up 21 percent of F-Series sales in February, according to The Detroit Free Press, up from 18 percent in the previous month, and they remained on dealer lots an average of 18 days. The lessened supply has also meant lower incentives. Mark LaNeve, Ford's US marketing boss, told the Free Press that average F-150 transaction prices were up $2,000 from last year. He also indicated that retail figures grew seven percent in February, while F-Series fleet numbers were down 18 percent. The constrained supply does come at an inopportune time for Ford, though. This year is expected to be huge for pickups. Also, lower gas prices appear to be pushing people towards SUVs and trucks recently. Related Video:

MotorWeek finds nice things to say about the 1993 Ford Probe

This latest in MotorWeek's series of Retro Reviews continues its recent trend of remembering the massive glut of sports coupes that hit the market in the '90s. While vehicles like the Mitsubishi 3000GT, Mazda RX-7, and Ford Mustang all enjoy solid reputations down to this day, the 1993 Ford Probe, well... doesn't. As you'll soon see, though, the show's opinion suggests the coupe's second generation isn't really all that bad. Turns out they just weren't particularly sporty. Ford and Mazda developed the Probe together, and the Japanese company supplied both the base 115-horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder and the 164-hp 2.5-liter V6 in the GT trim. The original's pseudo-angular look gave way to a much smoother shape for the second generation. Of course, pop-up headlights remained, which were a design hallmark for many of this era's sports coupes. After driving it, MotorWeek proclaims the Probe is "a winner" and considers the handling a "delight." That's not a big surprise, considering that in those days, a car had to be really bad not to get a decent review from Television's Original Automotive Magazine. However, the show hints at some of the reasons the coupe isn't so well remembered today. Even the GT reportedly suffers from soft springs and lots of understeer, which sounds like exactly the opposite anyone hoping to drive the coupe enthusiastically would want. To sum it all up, we're sure you're just as happy as we are that Ford went back on its initial plan to shelve the Mustang in favor of the front-drive Probe. Related Video: