The Ford vs. GM battle is going strong even after 100 years!

From CNN.com:

FORTUNE — It’s the mother of all corporate rivalries, bigger than Coke vs. Pepsi, older than Nike vs. Reebok, and more compelling than Pampers vs. Huggies. It’s fought with billion-dollar budgets for new models and marketing, and it is subject to more ups and downs than the stock market.

While it may be temporarily overshadowed by the troubles of Japanese auto makers, and imperiled long-term by the rise in oil prices, one constant remains in Detroit: General Motors vs. Ford. The two companies have been battling it out for profits, market share, and hometown bragging rights almost from the time GM (GM) was founded in Flint, Michigan in 1908, five years after Ford (F, Fortune 500) got started in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn.

Keeping score means watching three major indicators: annual profit, market capitalization, and U.S. market share — both retail share to private customers and overall share that includes fleet buyers.

Read the full article.

If you’re truck has these Continental tires get to a Ford Dealer or contact Continental like really fast and they should be replaced!

From the Detroit News:

Washington— Continental AG’s North American unit is recalling 390,000 truck tires following a fatal crash involving a Ford pickup in September, the company announced Friday.

Most of the recalled tires were used as original equipment on new Ford F-250 and F-350 vehicles.

The company said 330,000 of the tires were used on new 2008-09 Ford F-250 and F-350 trucks, while the rest were sold as replacement tires on Ford and other trucks.

The recall by South Carolina-based Continental Tire was prompted after the company received notice in January of a fatality involving a vehicle with a tire that has now been recalled.

The company hasn’t identified a root cause of the crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Continental and Utah State police are trying to figure out if the tire was to blame.

Read the full article.

It’s never a bad time to announce a new vehicle has been rated 40mpg by the EPA but at this point in history it’s a great time with gas climbing daily! The new 2012 Ford Focus has made it into the 40mpg club with an automatic transmission so the battle with the venerable Hyundai Elantra should make things that much better for consumers.

From the Detroit News:

The 2012 Ford Focus received a government rating of achieving 40 miles per gallon on the highway, as the automaker’s global launch of the compact spurs jobs among its supplier base, company officials said Friday.

The Environmental Protection Agency also certified the Focus as getting 28 mpg in city driving, Ford said. The rating applies to a model with a four-cylinder direct-injection engine and six-speed automatic transmission, as well as other fuel saving features.

The fuel economy news came as the Dearborn automaker announced its supplier network has expanded to meet the demand of its C-segment platform, which underpins the new Focus. Many of Ford’s 310 global suppliers are adding jobs, facilities and equipment to build parts for the new Focus. Among the major Focus suppliers, 5,500 jobs have been added at facilities in North America, Europe and Asia, the automaker said.

Read the full article.

Ford steps up to the plate in a Big Way with the new 2012 GT350 Convertible option being shown in Chicago. This is one of the sharpest sports cars I have seen in awhile and when you factor in the price point compared to other nameplates it might sound crazy but the 2012 GT350 Convertible is a “value play” for those in this market. This is one summer ride that we would love to review in the coming months so at least our readers know we’re trying to get our hands on one of these machines!

From Autoblog.com:

The 2011 Shelby GT350 followed nearly the same philosophy as the Ford Model T. You could get it in any color you want as long as it was white with blue stripes. That’s changing for 2012, as Shelby will also be offering the GT350 in Race Red and Kona Blue. A convertible option will be available, as well. In fact, this is the first time Shelby has built a drop-top GT350 since 1970.

The 2012 GT350 will offer up identical performance as the 2011 model, although one could argue that it didn’t need an upgrade in the first place. Customers can choose between the 430-horsepower base model or opt for either 525- or 624-horsepower versions. Additional upgrades include a full body kit, Cragar wheels, larger brakes, sport suspension and more. The convertible also comes with the option of a light bar. You can read full details about the 2012 Shelby GT350 after the jump, and check out our live photos from the show floor in the gallery below.

Read the full article.

Let the good times roll at Ford Motor! It’s amazing how this company turned around in the four years since CEO Alan Mulally took over the top spot from Bill Ford. It won’t be easy to keep the market share gains Ford has seen in the past few years with GM and Chrysler experiencing their own comebacks. In the meantime you know the Blue Oval Crew isn’t sitting back but rather they are getting ready for another round of new product launches in 2011.

From the Detroit Free Press:

Ford is about to happily wave good-bye to 10 years of turnaround plans.

The Dearborn automaker, which plans to announce year-end financial results Friday, is poised to report a profit for 2010 of about $8 billion excluding onetime charges — the automaker’s biggest annual profit in a decade.

Ford usually announces how much annual profit-sharing checks will be that day. The checks, expected in March, could give the local economy a $240-million boost, said David Sowerby, economist and chief portfolio manager for Loomis Sayles. Bernie Ricke, president of UAW Local 600, said the checks will be “fairly significant and more than we’ve seen in several years.”

Read the full article.

This is a very good write up on what the future holds for Ford’s Lincoln luxury brand. We weren’t at the dinner mentioned in the piece but it appears there weren’t many answers to the reporters questions.

My advice to the Bigs at the Blue Oval is “Go Young”. Take the time to establish Lincoln as a sleek luxury brand for style-conscious young professionals. (sound familiar?) It’s not a new formula but one that takes patience and top notch product priced right. As they climb the latter they will stick with Lincoln if their offerings can move up the ladder with the customer.

From Auto News.com:

It’s a week after the Detroit auto show opened to the press, and I have no clearer idea of how Ford Motor Co.’s going to rebuild Lincoln than I did before.

While Ford division occupied a large space at Cobo Center, the Lincoln stand was small and shoved into a back corner. You couldn’t miss it as you made your way to the restrooms.

Ford executives offered a wait-and-see response when asked about specific Lincoln product plans. The underlying message? It appears to be: “Trust us. Look what we’ve done with the Ford division. Just trust us.”

And even the competition won’t jar Lincoln.

Ford’s head of Asia-Pacific and Africa, Joe Hinrichs, told me at dinner that Buick’s compact car offering — the Verano — doesn’t put pressure on Lincoln.

Read the full article.

Ouch! Ford put together an incredible crossover in the 2011 Ford Edge and it loses the “recommend” tag from Consumer Reports because of some controls on the MyTouch system? That should be a side note to the company to “work on” but to yank a recommend on such a strong product for something like seems over the top! You can in someways compare that to someone not wanting to buy a Consumer Reports Magazine because they didn’t like the ad on the back cover.

From the Detroit News:

Consumer Reports has pulled its much heralded “recommend” tag for the 2011 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX in its February issue, available on newsstands today.

The influential magazine, in fact, did not recommend any of the six 2011 SUVs tested and featured in the issue. The others are the Chevrolet Tahoe and Jeep Grand Cherokee, as well as the more luxurious Porsche Cayenne and Infiniti QX56.

Pulling its recommendations for the Ford Motor Co. crossovers came down to Ford’s new telematics system, known as MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch, said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center in East Haddam, Conn. Testers found the system unwieldy, difficult to use and requires drivers to take their eyes off the road, he said.

Read the full article.

Ford isn’t letting up in trying to come up with all ideas possible to increase fuel efficiency. If this start and stop method can increase mpg by 10% in the city and 5% overall cars won’t need to be idle to get our attention! (just make sure the heater keeps running in Ohio winters!)

From the Truth About Cars:

Despite the fact that current EPA testing methods fail to demonstrate the advantages of “stop-start” systems, which shut down engines at idle, Ford will begin rolling out the technology on 2012 model-year vehicles. Automotive News [sub] reports that “some” four-cylinder models will go idle-free starting with next year’s rollout of 2012 models, and that

Based on the European rollout, the most likely initial vehicles include the 2012 Ford Fiesta and Focus cars, Escape crossover, C-Max minivan and Transit Connect delivery vehicle.

By 2015, Ford will have joined Mazda as one of the manufacturers offering start-stop across its lineup (on manual and automatic models). There was, however, no cooperation between the two firms on their respective stop-start systems. Ford’s newest system can reportedly improve efficiency by ten percent in the city and five percent overall.

Read the full article.

Ford announced last week that it would be partnering with TeleNav to provide global navigation services in MyFord Touch equipped vehicles.

From the press release:

“With TeleNav’s worldwide routing and navigation experience, Ford now can offer high quality connected services to drivers in a number of countries,” said HP Jin, president, CEO and co-founder of TeleNav. “The availability of MyFord Touch outside of North America is further evidence of TeleNav’s growing presence in the auto industry.”

MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch will allow customers to interact with the navigation system through a touch screen interface or SYNC’s voice recognition capabilities to find local information and navigate to their destinations. The system includes an 8-inch touch screen in the center stack and dual 4.2-inch screens in the instrument cluster to showcase full color maps and guidance information. TeleNav’s SD card-based navigation system provides an easily updateable option compared to CD, DVD or hard-drive-based systems. TeleNav’s global navigation solution includes regional and local information such as languages, guidance and maps.

The best part of that is “easily updateable.” One of GPS’ biggest drawbacks is how quickly it can get outdated. With road construction happening every day, frustration at making a wrong turn somewhere is almost inevitable. Any GPS system that’s easy to update is a GPS system I want.

Ford’s new 2011 Ford Explorer won’t go on sale until early next year but early signs are “all good” as orders are pouring in!

Ford Motor Co. has about 15,000 orders — about double its projections — for the 2011 Ford Explorer that isn’t slated to hit showrooms until the new year.

The preorders include about 3,000 retail orders, 7,500 dealer orders and more than 4,500 from companies, Ford officials say.

For the 2011 model year, the Explorer goes from its traditional body-on-frame truck roots to a reincarnation atop the underpinnings of the Ford Taurus, making it a more fuel-efficient crossover, compared to an SUV. Ford hopes the remake will spur a sales resurgence for a vehicle that was hugely successful before higher gasoline prices tamped down the demand for SUVs.

Read the full article.