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Ford rolls out Vignale Mondeo for upscale European buyers

North American buyers looking for a luxury automobile from Dearborn know to turn to Lincoln, but overseas, the Ford brand itself appeals to upscale customers with its own products. The Blue Oval automaker unveiled a premium take on the Taurus for the Chinese market at the Shanghai Motor Show this weekend, and in Europe it's rolling out the Vignale sub-brand with the model you see here. Previewed in concept form a year and a half ago at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the Vignale line revives the name of a storied Italian coachbuilder that Ford acquired (together with Ghia) back in 1973. Now ready for production, the first Vignale model upgrades on the Mondeo (which we know as the Fusion) with a number of high-end features. The cabin space is altogether more luxurious, featuring high-end, laser-cut leather trim with hexagonal quilting and "tuxedo" stitching. The multi-contour front seats have a massage function, and occupants are better isolated from the road via upgraded sound insulation and active noise cancellation. The Ford Vignale Mondeo benefits from all the latest safety-convenience and infotainment technologies, including an optional Sony digital audio system with twelve speakers. The exterior is made to look more upscale as well, with unique metallic paint finishes, special chrome trim, 18-inch alloys and the requisite special badging to set it apart from ordinary Mondeos. Buyers will be able to choose between sedan or wagon body styles, front- or all-wheel drive and from a number of engine options. There's a 2.0-liter EcoBoost four with 237 horsepower, a 2.0-liter turbodiesel available with 177 or 207 hp, and a gasoline-electric hybrid system with 184 hp. Each vehicle is hand-finished and individually inspected at the Vignale Centre at Ford's plant in Valencia, Spain, and will be offered through select dealerships outfitted with premium Vignale Lounges. Customers will also benefit from access to a dedicated "relationship manager," customer assistance operators on call 24 hours a day and a companion app, but of course none of these features come cheap: At around GBP30k in the UK, the price of a Vignale Mondeo comes close to that of an Audi A6 or Jaguar XF, and it'll be up to individual buyers to decide whether the spruced-up Fusion is worth the premium. Look for a Vignale version of the S-Max to follow.

Ford recalls 650,000 trucks and SUVs for defective wipers

Ford announced earlier this month that it is recalling 652,996 F-Series pickups, Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators produced for the 2020 and 2021 model years to address an issue that may cause their windshield wipers to separate, reducing visibility and leading to potentially hazardous driving conditions.  According to the Blue Oval, one of its suppliers used worn tooling components that resulted in wiper arms being produced with splines that are not tall enough to fully engage the motor pivots they're mounted to, which can cause the connection to strip when the motors are turned on. This could result in the wiper arms not moving at all, or engaging only intermittently.  "Worn wiper arm spline tooling core inserts at the supplier resulted in insufficient spline tooth height, which can cause the arm attachment to strip when used with a certain wiper motors with higher torque," Ford said in its defect report to NHTSA. "Potential symptoms include erratic or slow wipe speed of the driver or passenger wiper arm. An improper functioning wiper arm may potentially result in reduced visibility in certain conditions, which could increase the risk of a crash." Ford says the vehicles were not produced in VIN order, so while not all of the nearly 653,000 vehicles have bad wiper arms, they're all suspect until proven safe. Ford will notify owners of the recall campaign starting in May.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Recalls Ford Lincoln Safety Truck SUV

Toyota Land Cruiser returns, Porsche shows Mission X | Autoblog Podcast # 785

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor John Beltz Snyder. This week's big new is that Toyota officially confirmed the return of the Land Cruiser to the U.S. We also talk about GM adopting Tesla's charging standard, Porsche's Mission X electric hypercar concept, early issues with Tesla's Cybertruck, the possible return of the Chevy Bolt, some amazing barn find Ferraris and Le Mans. Also, we've been driving the Chrysler 300C, Toyota Sienna, Ford Escape and an electric school bus from Lightning eMotors. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast # 785 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown It's official: Toyota Land Cruiser is coming back to the U.S. GM partners with Tesla for Supercharger access, adoption of NACS Porsche Mission X concept points at brand's next hypercar 5 cool things about the Porsche Mission X concept car Leaked document shows significant early issues with Tesla Cybertruck GM CEO Mary Barra hints at Chevrolet Bolt's return on Ultium platform Historic Ferraris that were 'lost and found' go to auction in Monterey Some thoughts on Le Mans Cars we're driving 2023 Chrysler 300C 2023 Toyota Sienna 2023 Ford Escape Lightning eMotors electric school bus Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related video: Green Podcasts Chevrolet Chrysler Ford GM Porsche Tesla Toyota Truck Coupe Crossover Hatchback Minivan/Van SUV Electric Sedan