2008 Ford F250 King Ranch on 2040-cars

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Enterprise working with renter's insurance to cover $47k Mustang stolen from its lot

There was more than a bit of public indigence following the recent story of Enterprise Rent-A-Car billing a customer $47,000 to replace a Ford Mustang GT Convertible stolen from a Nova Scotia lot. To recap: Kristen Cockerill rented the Mustang for two days, returned it to the lot on a Sunday and left the keys in a secure dropbox only for Enterprise employees to find the car gone the next day.
Despite Enterprise policies stating that customers are responsible for vehicles dropped on off-days, the company has admitted that the situation could've been handled a bit better.
In a recent statement, Enterprise has backed off the big-bill story, and claims to be working with Cockerill and her insurance company to resolve the issue. Further, the Enterprise general manager overseeing Nova Scotia has spoken with the harried renter, and apologized "for the way this claim was handled during the last few months."

Ford cuts production at 5 plants, has big backload of cars including Mustang

DETROIT — Ford said on Tuesday it plans to idle five North American vehicle assembly plants for a total of 10 weeks to reduce inventories of slow-selling models. The plants affected include three assembly plants in the United States and two in Mexico, the company said in a statement. The vehicle models include the Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ midsize sedans, the Ford Focus compact car, the Lincoln Continental and Ford Mustang, Ford Fiesta and the Ford Transit van. Ford said the Cuautitlan assembly plant that builds the Fiesta would be idled for three weeks. The Hermosillo, Mexico plant that builds the Fusion and MKZ and the Flat Rock, Michigan, factory that assembles Continentals and Mustangs will be idled for two weeks each. The Michigan Assembly plant that builds the Focus will be idled for one week, and the Kansas City assembly line that builds Transit vans will be down for two weeks. Ford did not give dates for the temporary shutdowns. The factories involved employ more than 15,000 people, according to Ford's website. The company did not say how many of those workers would face temporary layoffs. As of Sept. 1, Ford had 111 days' worth of unsold Mustangs, 87 days' supply of Fusions, and a 103 days' supply of Transit vans, according to Automotive News. Dealers had enough unsold Lincoln Continentals to last 162 days. Automakers aim for 65 to 70 days of inventory of most models. Ford and rival General Motors have wrestled most of this year to rein in high inventories of passenger cars as consumers have shifted to buying pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Production cuts slice into revenue, but also could help the automakers avoid deeper price cuts on vehicles they can sell. Reporting by Joe WhiteRelated Video: Image Credit: Reuters Plants/Manufacturing Ford Lincoln Convertible Coupe Minivan/Van Sedan ford transit inventory flat rock kansas city assembly plant hermosillo

2015 F-150 kick-starts Ford sales

The F-150 had a middling year in 2014, and its sales dipped slightly as Ford transitioned to producing the all-new truck with an aluminum body. But with one factory humming, another on the way and a fuller stock of trucks, 2015 is already shaping up to be a different story. The F-Series posted a 17-percent leap in January, helping to push Ford sales to a 15-percent gain for the month. The F-Series had its best January performance in 11 years with sales of 54,370 trucks last month. Much of this strength comes from the new generation of the F-150. While many of the old model are still being sold off, Ford is rolling out the new version. Just five percent of the F-150's retail sales were the new truck in December, but it was up to 18 percent in January. The increase comes as the first factory that makes the truck, Ford's Dearborn facility, is fully back online. The other F-150 factory, in Kansas City, is still completing its changeover to build the aluminum-bodied truck, and that's expected to be finished in the first quarter of this year. Sales of the truck will still be "tempered a bit" until the Kansas City plant ramps up, Ford sales analyst Erich Merkle said. Ford expects to have a full inventory of F-150s by mid-year. To that end, the company announced plans on Wednesday to add 1,550 jobs to support the F-150, including 900 positions at the Kansas City factory. The remaining jobs will be spread out over sites in metro Detroit. The Dearborn and Kansas City factories collectively will be able to build more than 700,000 F-150s annually. The added headcount also means Ford has reached the maximum number of entry-level workers allowed under its pact with the United Auto Workers. About 300 to 500 employees at several plants in the Midwest will transition to a higher pay rate, and their wages will rise from $19.28 an hour to $28.50 an hour. The F-Series was Ford's hottest seller in January, moving off lots in an average of 12 days. The high-end models, the King Ranch and the Platinum versions, are moving slightly quicker. The average transaction price is also up $2,100 for the F-150 compared to January 2014. "We're really pleased with how the new one is doing on dealer lots," Merkle said. A larger stock of F-150s will allow Ford and its rivals to capitalize on low fuel prices, which have slowed consumers' interest in smaller vehicles.