Road Reality » Manufacturer Update

New Tech: Ford Curve Control

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:00:22 +0000

Ford debuted a new safety technology dubbed Curve Control, which works to help the driver control their vehicle in curves. Curve Control helps drivers when they enter a curve too fast, slowing the vehicle up to 10 mph in 1 second, by reducing engine power and using “smart braking” to apply brakes to any or all of the 4 wheels on the vehicle.

This new crash avoidance technology will show up first in the 2011 Ford Explorer, and by 2015 will be on 90% of Ford’s SUVs, crossovers, trucks and vans. According to Ford, 50,000 accidents occur each year where drivers enter corners too fast, and this technology was developed to try and cut down on that number.

by John Suit

Source: Ford

Lexus HS250h Gets Pinto-Like Recall

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:54:57 +0000

Well, despite a lot of automakers learning from Toyota’s previous recall mistakes, it seems the automaker’s luxury segment didn’t learn a lesson from Ford’s mistake in the 1970′s, the Pinto fires. According to Jalopnik, Lexus is recalling their 2010 HS250h luxury hybrid sedan, due to excessive fuel leakage resulting from a rear-end collision.

The NHTSA runs a test where a deformable moving barrier strikes the rear end of a car at about 50mph, and during the test on the Lexus HS250h, it was found that more fuel leaked than regulations allow.

Lexus NCIR Filing

While the report hasn’t yet hit the NHTSA’s Recalls & Defects site, it appears as though Lexus is going to try and get in front of this recall, although as of this writing, the manufacturer hasn’t devised a solution for the roughly 13,000 affected vehicles.

Stay tuned to Road Reality for updates as they become available.

by John Suit

Source: Jalopnik

Cadillac and Lincoln: Free Maintenance Packages

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:49:32 +0000

2011 Lincoln MKX

If you’re going to play in the luxury car arena, you might want to look at how things are done by BMW. The German luxury car manufacturer gives new-car buyers free maintenance for 4 years/50,000 miles. Now, two domestic luxury brands are joining in, albeit in slightly different ways. Cadillac will give you free maintenance for 4 yrs/50,000 miles on any 2011 model, whereas Lincoln gives you the same length of time and mileage, but only on 2010 and 2011 models sold during this summer.

2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe

It appears that the Cadillac plan, while it may apply to more vehicles, is more limited than the Lincoln plan, but both are better than nothing, and may sway some of you into either buying earlier than you previously planned, or buying a Cadillac or Lincoln when you may have bought something else. Either way, they’re both good marketing tools, and for Lincoln, at least, is a way to get people into their cars as Mercury is being shuttered and its new models are making their way to market.

by John Suit

Source: Ford, GM

Breaking News: Ford confirms rumors of Mercury shutdown

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:20:03 +0000

In a press conference this afternoon with Ford’s president of the Americas, Mark Fields, it was announced that the Mercury brand, in existence for the past 71 years, will be shuttered at the end of this calendar year. According to Ford, this allows them to enhance the Lincoln brand, with Lincoln-specific powertrains and vehicles, without straining the resources of the Ford brand itself, which has seen major growth in sales, customer satisfaction, and reliability over the past few years. Read on for more details.

2009 Lincoln MKS

Lincoln is reportedly going to be offering EcoBoost engines in every vehicle in its lineup, from the Navigator on down. EcoBoost is Ford’s name for an engine technology which allows them to use smaller engines in place of bigger ones, leading to better fuel economy without sacrificing power. Lincoln is also said to be in the process of creating or releasing 7 all-new or redesigned vehicles, including a small car previewed by the Lincoln C concept car late last year.

2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid

Ford is positioning Lincoln to be a true luxury competitor, whereas in recent years its vehicles have been perceived as superior trim levels to what Ford and Mercury offered. With the MKS and MKZ sedans growing Lincoln’s business in the past few years, it looks like Ford’s luxury brand will stay around, and with the demise of Mercury, Ford will have the resources to do with Lincoln what GM did with Cadillac, albeit several years behind their cross-town rivals.

It’s no surprise that Mercury is being killed off, but at least Ford is going to be putting the extra resources into making Lincoln a real threat to Cadillac, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz.

If you’re worried about your current Mercury vehicle, or any Mercury vehicle you may purchase until they run out, don’t be. Ford says it is standing behind all Mercury vehicles currently on the road, and that you’ll be able to get them serviced at any Ford or Lincoln dealership.

Looks like another good choice by Ford’s executives, now let’s see if they can follow through to give Cadillac a real domestic rival.

by John Suit

Source: Ford

Buick: The new Pontiac?

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:00:21 +0000

Buick Regal GS

The average age of a Buick customer is north of 60 years old. While that has kept Buick from becoming a part of GM’s history like Oldsmobile and Pontiac, it isn’t enough to sustain itself as part of the new GM. The most obvious course of action would be to lower that average age to somewhere closer to 30 years old. The big question then is to ask how a car company can accomplish this, especially given GM’s current lack of funds to do a lot of research and development.

Buick LaCrosse CXS

As I predicted a couple of years ago, domestic car companies would have to import tooling and designs from their European subsidiaries, and Buick is the most recent division of GM to do just that, and it looks like they have a couple of big winners on their hands. The Buick LaCrosse has already begun the transformation, with good reviews and decent sales, even in our current economy.

Buick LaCrosse CXS

With strikingly good looks and the right driving dynamics, the new LaCrosse is looking to compete with Japanese and European luxury sedans. Great design, both inside and out, backed up with top-notch materials, has made the LaCrosse one of Buick’s biggest sellers, and it’s only going to go up from there. It’s based on a car created by Opel, one of GM’s European subsidiaries.

Buick Regal

The second part of GM’s master plan is to add some real “driving excitement,” to borrow a page from Pontiac’s book. The semi-retired Regal nameplate is going to show up again on our shores soon. Another Opel design, in pre-production test drives, several automotive news outlets have actually proclaimed it a competitor to such cars as the BMW 3-series, as well as other German automobiles. Handling, steering, brakes, and engine have all been praised.

Buick Regal GS

This week, some of the pundits were proven correct when GM announced the Regal GS was coming to the States. Basically a rebadged Opel Insignia OPC, the Regal GS will even feature a manual transmission, something not seen in a Buick for quite some time! The Insignia OPC is a high-performance variant of the Insignia which is mostly sold in Europe, but due to some clever design work by GM, the American-market parts will bolt right up. These market-specific parts are required due to stringent US safety standards.

With a more powerful engine, available manual transmission, and a platform which can keep up with the best from BMW, the Regal and Regal GS promise a lot, and from the looks of it, may just deliver. I’m going to make another prediction: Buick’s average customer will drop to below 50 in the next 2-4 years, as less expensive but better cars take over where Pontiac left off. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see a Pontiac G8 look-a-like with a Buick grille on it.

by John Suit

Source: GM

Report suggests Ford planning to shutter Mercury

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:06:36 +0000

Since it’s sales are down 74% since 2000, it’s no surprise that Ford would want to shut down its Mercury brand. Bloomberg has reported that 2 inside sources close to the plan have told them about the probable closing. For some years now, the impression consumers have of Mercury is that its vehicles merely represent another trim level for Fords. In the same vein as what got GM into a lot of trouble, most Mercurys are badge-engineered Fords, with slightly better interiors and some different exterior colors and parts. It’ll be a shame to see such a long-running marque disappear. If it’s shut down, Mercury would join Pontiac, Hummer, Oldsmobile and Saturn in the annals of history, and sales would wind down over the next 4 years or so. Keep your browser tuned here for updates to this story.

by John Suit

Source: Bloomberg