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Bill Ford augments his power by nearly doubling stake of supervoting shares

Bill Ford Jr. has more sway than ever over the automaker that bears his surname, as the great-grandson of Ford's founder has reportedly doubled is holdings of Class B Ford stock. According to a report from Reuters (which cites a newly discovered securities filing), he acquired some 3.7 million Class B shares from an unnamed family member.
Class B shares of Ford stock are held by descendants of Henry Ford and offer expanded voting power to their holders - Bill Ford Jr. now controls roughly 11.5 percent of the total Class B pool. Ford Jr. is also a one of five trustees that manage a voting trust that oversees the majority of these "supervoting" shares. In total, Reuters reports there are 71 million Class B shares that account for 40 percent of the voting power in the company, despite making up just 2 percent of the total volume of all Ford stock.
Ford Jr. served as Ford's CEO until 2006, when he stepped down to hire and make space for current CEO, Alan Mulally. The move to consolidate Ford family voting power, at least somewhat, is seen by many as a comforting sign with Mulally's departure from the company likely to happen in the next several years.

New Ford Escape spied inside and out

For the 2016 model year, the Ford Escape receives the Blue Oval's latest Sync 3 infotainment system and some minor tweaks to the color and trim options. Based on these new spy shots, it would appear that the crossover is due for some much bigger changes not too far into the future, as well. The thorough refresh isn't just an exterior styling update, either. Ford's designers are giving the future Escape a front end that's a bit more in the style of the latest Edge, at least based on these shots. Peek behind the mesh obscuring the grille, and the styling there now appears to have a hexagonal shape with horizontal slats and a smaller, lower intake. At the same time, the headlights are narrower and come to a sharper point as they wrap around the fender. The heavy camouflage makes the changes at the back harder to spot, although the taillights seem subtly tweaked with a similar overall shape but a clear stripe cutting through the center. The Escape also seems to be receiving a completely different center stack inside, but the area is still well concealed. The gearshift moves down between the seats, and that allows physical controls for the radio and HVAC to take that real estate. It's possible that the infotainment screen might pop up from the mesh-covered area you can see at the top of the interior photos. Take a look through the gallery for some detailed shots of Ford's camouflaged crossover.

2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 to start at $47,870 [UPDATE]

UPDATE: After reaching out to Ford, we've been told by spokesman Said Deep that while the Blue Oval hasn't formally announced pricing for the GT350/GT350R, the document obtained by Mustang6G is accurate. Look for a second post when Ford makes its formal announcement at a later date. Ladies and gents, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 will be something of a bargain. Mustang6G has a leaked pricing sheet that indicates the base model will start at just $47,870, while the track-oriented R adds $13,500 to that price. Neither figure includes an $825 destination charge. That means that the high-performance Mustang will undercut, well, a lot of stuff. The GT350R is nearly $11,000 less than a Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 and is $2,830 less than a base BMW M4. The standard GT350, meanwhile, slots below the base Chevrolet Corvette by $7,130, while the price should even be within the reach of some Camaro SS 1LE consumers. In short, the GT350 and GT350R should appeal to a lot of people based purely on price alone. With the previous leak on options pricing, figuring out the cost of your ideal GT350 requires nothing more than some simple addition. While a leaked document such as this is often met with an initial degree of skepticism, Mustang6G reports that the prices are real and are showing up within the Ford dealer system. Naturally, we've reached out to Ford in an attempt to confirm this report. Should they get back to us, we'll be sure to update this story. See Ford's comment up top. Until then, head into Comments and let us know what you think of the starting prices for the GT350 and GT350R.