2004 Ford Explorer 4x4 Xlt on 2040-cars

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Lincoln Continental production likely to shift to Flat Rock

Lincoln production may be returning to Michigan, according to a new report from Automotive News. While the brand's current big sedan, the MKS, is built alongside the Ford Taurus, Ford Explorer, and their Police Interceptor counterparts at the Blue Oval's Chicago, IL factory, the production version of the Continental won't be screwed together in the Windy City. According to AN, "industry sources" claim the Continental will join the Ford Mustang and Ford Fusion – on which the big Lincoln is loosely based – at the company's Flat Rock, MI factory. The move isn't just based on convenience, though. Ford is selling a lot of Explorers, and shifting Lincoln production away from Chicago Assembly frees up production capacity for the popular SUV. "Chicago Assembly Plant is vital to our global manufacturing footprint and will continue to manufacture the Ford Taurus, Ford Explorer and Police Interceptor vehicles even after we phase out production of the MKS in 2016," Ford told Automotive News. "We will continue to match production to demand." Looking at the numbers further backs up the argument against Lincoln production in Chicago. Last year alone, Ford built nearly 285,000 Explorers and over 73,000 Taurus sedans, compared to just 8,300 Lincolns. Finally, as AN tells it, Ford is almost telegraphing the Continental's arrival in Flat Rock. The facility has a four-week shut down scheduled from June 15 through July 13, which is twice as long as the typical summer vacation, while there's another two weeks off slated for September. Related Video:

2014 Ford Fiesta ST

I'm not overly inclined to professional jealousy, as a rule. Sure, I go a bit green around the eyes when Ramsey draws the 911 GT3 trip to Weissach, Harley is tapped-in to drive a completely stunning Porsche 911 by Singer, or, you know, Drew Phillips gets to shoot a Lamborghini Veneno in the middle of a desert like some sort of sheik. I hate you guys...
Honestly though, one of the new car events that dug me the most, was when our Steven J. Ewing got to fling the Ford Fiesta ST around some hot corner of Europe. What goes around comes around, I suppose, as Mr. Ewing himself espoused an envious nature of the Focus ST trip that came before.
The good news in all this covetous intra-office behavior? All the cars mentioned, and specifically the Fiesta ST, are just wonderful to drive. I can say that with more confidence than ever now, having joined Ford for a good bit of Fiesta-flinging myself. In my case, the locale was slightly more pedestrian (Michigan not Portugal), and the car in question was the five-door version of the Fiesta ST that we get here in The States, as opposed to the three-door number they get across the pond.

Expert: 54.5 mpg CAFE standard can be reached without many plug-ins

Johnson Controls executive Brian Kesseler isn't likely to get any holiday presents this year from Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn or Tesla Motors head Elon Musk, but lots of other folks might be happy with what he has to say about automakers' efforts to reach stricter fleetwide fuel-economy standards. Speaking at the Automotive News World Congress, Kesseler said automakers wouldn't need to sell an extensive number of plug-in vehicles in order to meet the 54.5 mile per gallon Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard the US government set in 2012 for 2025 model-year vehicles. In fact, he said, components such as stop-start engine technology, turbochargers and direct injection may actually do the trick. Already, things like smaller engine sizes and lighter cars are already playing major roles in spurring fuel-efficiency gains. Of course, Johnson Controls sells batteries specially built for stop-start systems, so Kesseler does have a bit of skin in this game. The 54.5-mpg CAFE standard equates to about a 40-mpg "real world" fuel-efficiency level. To put that into perspective, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a report late last year that model-year 2013 average fuel economy was an even 24 mpg. That was up from 23.6 mpg for the 2012 model year and 22.4 mpg for 2011. News Source: Automotive NewsImage Credit: AP Government/Legal Green Ford Fuel Efficiency mpg CAFE standards ecoboost johnson controls