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2014 Ford Fusion to get 1.5L EcoBoost three-cylinder?

Just one year after launching the all-new 2013 Fusion, Ford is reportedly set to alter the sedan's powertrain lineup with the addition of a new 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder EcoBoost engine. A member of Blue Oval Forums apparently got their hands on the ordering guide for the 2014 model year Fusion, and this 1.5-liter mill is set to be introduced with late availability.
This lines up with other news about the Chinese-market Mondeo being offered with a new 1.5-liter EcoBoost - a derivative of the 1.0-liter triple that will come to North America under the hood of the Fiesta (note: the 1.0 is also offered in the current Euro-spec Mondeo). In the Chinese application, the larger three-pot engine produces 177 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque, which is very close to the current 1.6-liter inline-four's output numbers of 178 hp and 184 lb-ft.
What's interesting, however, is that the 1.6-liter engine will reportedly still be offered in the Fusion, but only with the six-speed manual transmission. The smaller 1.5-liter EcoBoost will only be mated to a six-speed SelectShift automatic, and will feature start/stop. This means that while the 1.5 is slightly down on power compared to the 1.6, it could easily improve fuel economy numbers, allowing the Fusion to regain the title of having the best mileage in the segment, likely besting the 38 miles per gallon of the Nissan Altima. Currently, the Fusion 1.6 is rated at 23 mpg city and 36 mpg highway.

Here's what it's like to drive the very first Ford Mustang cop car

As we recently discovered, there's something different about driving a police car. That's true whether you're talking about a modern Dodge Charger Pursuit or, yes, the legendary Ford Mustang SSP. Former Autoblog staffer and current Road and Track web editor Zach Bowman discovered this when he shanghaied a 2015 Mustang GT and made the trip to Nashville, TN to drive the very first Mustang SSP police car. The two-tone, V8-powered prototype was delivered into the welcoming arms of the California Highway Patrol back in 1981 for evaluation. Bowman chatted up cop-car aficionado Mike Strinich, the prototype's current owner, and managed to score some seat time in the car, which provided a unique interesting contrast to the SSP's 435-horsepower junior. Head over to R&T for the complete read.

FCA, Ford idle plants due to semiconductor shortage

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford and FCA will become the latest automakers to idle production facilities due to a semiconductor shortage. Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky will idle for a week, borrowing a down period from later in the year to compensate. Per Automotive News, FCA is idling its Brampton facility in Ontario, Canada, and one other site which has not yet been identified.  Louisville Assembly is the production site for the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair SUVs; Brampton Assembly produces the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger for FCA.  A Ford spokeswoman, who declined to identify the semiconductor supplier, confirmed the temporary shutdown to Reuters. In this, FCA and Ford join Nissan and potentially Honda in idling production in the wake of the shortage, which also hit Volkswagen late last year. The shortages are being blamed on consumer demand for silicon after production slowdowns resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Volkswagen said it had to adjust production schedules in China, Europe and North America to compensate.  Nissan said it planned to reduce production of the Note, a hybrid electric car, at its Oppama Plant in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, but did not give details of the scale of the output cut. The Nikkei newspaper reported that Nissan would slash its Note production at Oppama to about 5,000 units in January, from an initially planned 15,000 units. "A global shortage of semiconductors has affected parts procurement in the auto sector. As a result of this shortage, the Oppama Plant in Japan will adjust production in January, reducing production of the Nissan NOTE," Nissan said in a statement. (This article contains reporting from Reuters.)     Auto News Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Chrysler Dodge Ford