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2017 Ford GT spied in the raw

The Ford GT supercar is finally going outside to play, and it has been captured for the first time prowling the streets near Ford's compound in Dearborn, MI. Due in late 2016, the GT has been one of Ford's most closely guarded projects and was developed under a veil of secrecy. The prototype revealed at the Detroit Auto Show stunned enthusiasts, and these shots illustrate that it's making the leap to production reality. As our spy shooter wryly notes, the mule captured in these photographs looks like a Mad Max prop. It's colorless, is missing key body parts – note the ringless taillights and lack of a rear bumper or diffuser. It also looks to be even lower to the ground than the concept from the Detroit show. It appears to have different mirrors and windshield wipers. The lack of some body panels also calls out the exhaust pipes, which look like tail guns in these shots. Otherwise, this test car looks just like the auto show star, and sans paint it manages to appear even more sinister. Though these spy shots indicate the GT is on track for production, Ford has been pretty up front about what the car will be when it arrives in showrooms. We know it will have a twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. It will make extensive use of carbon fiber and feature a driver-oriented, contemporary-styled interior. Canadian company Multimatic will build the GT. The Le Mans-inspired supercar is the standard-bearer for Ford's renewed performance push. The automaker plans to roll out at least 12 sporting cars by 2020 as it looks to lure new buyers to its fold. Ford also using developments from these high-end cars to improve its lineup, and will it spread aerodynamics and materials technologies across its portfolio. "It's another proof point about how serious we are in developing innovation through performance," Ford product chief Raj Nair has said. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Ford GT Spy Photos View 25 Photos Related Gallery Ford GT Concept: Detroit 2015 View 45 Photos Image Credit: Chris Doane Automotive Motorsports Ford Coupe Performance Supercars

Deep discounts — $12K, $13K, $16K — are fueling a pickup price war

Heavy discounts of up to $16,000 per vehicle are fueling a "truck war" among full-size pickups sold in the United States by the Detroit Three, a Reuters analysis shows. Strong U.S. sales this year of the highly profitable big trucks have helped offset lagging passenger car sales. But it is not clear how much of the truck demand is linked directly to ample factory incentives and dealer discounts, or how far sales might decline without those subsidies. A Reuters survey of Ford, General Motors Co's Chevrolet and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles's Ram truck dealers across the United States indicates stores are offering deep discounts the country's bestselling full-size pickup trucks. "The walls are not crashing down on full-size trucks," said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. Detroit-based automakers want to keep cranking out their high-margin trucks, he added, and "giving up a little of the profit is the cheapest way to do it." Stores are offering discounts of up to $12,000 on the 2018 Ford F-150, which remains the best-selling vehicle in the country, recording more than 80,000 sales in May. Discounts run up to $13,000 on the 2018 Chevrolet Silverado and as high as $16,000 on the Ram 1500. Average transaction prices for full-size pick-ups range from around $42,000 to $45,000, industry analysts and automakers say. All three companies are spending furiously - GM and Fiat Chrysler to help sell off carryover 2018 trucks to prepare for redesigned 2019 models, and Ford to sustain its long-held sales crown. A supplier fire that temporarily shut down production of the F-150 last month "changed the game," said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive in Troy, Michigan said. The supply halt nudged Ford's crosstown rivals "to ratchet up incentives on the current models to go after weakness at Ford," he said. Deals advertised on the companies' official websites range from rebates and low-interest loans to ultra-cheap lease rates, but they are not telling the whole story. Ford, for instance, advertises a $2,000 rebate and a $500 financing credit on sales of certain F-150 models. But James Collins Ford in Louisville, Kentucky, is offering discounts of up to $12,215 on the 2018 F-150 XLT SuperCrew 4x4. The price cuts are even steeper at a number of GM and Fiat Chrysler dealers. Quirk Chevrolet is selling the 2018 Silverado 1500 Double Cab at $13,000 off sticker.

Ford shutters Genk assembly plant in Belgium

Ford has become the latest automaker to close one of its European assembly plants. The facility in question is located in the Belgian city of Genk and has been in operation since the early '60s when it started building the Taunus, Ford's first mass-produced, front-drive model. As part of the plan first announced over two years ago, the Genk Body & Assembly Plant is now closing its doors after half a century in the business and over fourteen million vehicles built. Although the plant itself employed some 5,000 workers, once you take into account the suppliers built up around the plant, the overall impact on employment in the area edges closer to 12,000. Genk Body & Assembly had until recently been tasked with producing the Mondeo sedan (which in its current iteration we know as the Fusion) as well as the S-Max and Galaxy minivans. Production of the Mondeo shifted in 2013 to the company's plant in Valencia, Spain, which also handles the Kuga crossover and Transit Connect cargo van, and will soon take over the minivans from Genk as well. The move follows a similar decision undertaken by General Motors to close the Opelwerk plant in Bochum, Germany. It also reflects a scaling down of automobile production in Belgium specifically: although Audi still manufacturers in Brussels and and Volvo in Ghent, Opel closed its plant in Antwerp in 2000 and Renault ceased production in Vilvoorde back in '97. However Ford still maintains its famous proving ground half an hour to the north in Lommel, Belgium. News Source: AutovisieImage Credit: Kristof Van Accom / AFP / Getty Plants/Manufacturing Ford plant ford s-max ford galaxy