It is in keeping with a strategic plan going forward to place more emphasis on the Lincoln premium brand.. At the recent L.A. auto show, Mark Fields, Ford president of the Americas, said Lincoln will take over as the volume piece of the Lincoln Mercury franchise. “We won’t walk away from Mercury,” Fields said, but “we have higher aspirations for Lincoln.” He notes November retail sales for the brand were up for the 14th consecutive month.

Lincoln has its new flagship MKS sedan set to go on sale next fall with Ford’s new 270-hp, 3.7-liter V-6 under the hood. The Lincoln will be the first to offer the automaker’s new direct-injection technology when a turbocharged V-6 is added to the MKS for 2010 to provide the power of a V-8 without the corresponding fuel-economy penalty.

Meanwhile, the name Flex will stick for the Ford version, Fields insists, saying it “researched well.” Our vote is to return to the Fairlane name that graced the original concept.

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We’re expecting one, or maybe both, of Ford’s new 5.8L and 6.2L BOSS V8’s will make its way into the F150. Eventually Ford’s new 4.4L Lion diesel motor will also show up under the hood. This will be a first for the F150 lineup to get a diesel.
Style-wise, the new F150 will be more evolutionary than revolutionary with bolder fender flares and a “power dome” hood. Some may even refer to it as a “Super Duty Lite” in styling with a smaller version of the Super Duty’s bold 3-bar grille with vents on the side.

The interior was a little hard to look at – but from what we could see it looks as if they have chosen to cover the trim and seats in ‘platinum’. The new truck is scheduled for 2009 – but there are hopes that it will arrive sometime next year.

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Ford all but abandoned the Taurus when it launched the Five Hundred, a larger vehicle based on the same platform as the Volvo S80 luxury sedan, and the Fusion, a slightly more compact mid-size sedan built on Mazda underpinnings. The plan was to replace the mid-size Taurus with a pair of vehicles that Ford thought would be more competitive in an automotive marketplace that was fracturing into smaller and smaller niches.

That wasn’t the case when Ford launched the Taurus back in 1985. With its oval-shaped rear window and other oval-shaped interior components, the Taurus became America’s best-selling car. But the second generation didn’t have the same sizzle and Ford chose to try a two-pronged attack to compete with the popularity of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Meanwhile, the Taurus remained in production until last year, but was sold primarily into rental car and other fleets.

Still, of the 7 million Taurus models built, nearly half remain on the road, and the Taurus brand ranked third behind only the F series pickup truck and the Mustang in a survey of Ford nameplate familiarity, so the new regime running Ford decided that instead of trying to create awareness for the Five Hundred and Freestyle, it made more sense to try to cut through the clutter by updating and renaming those vehicles as Tauruses. The update includes a new 3.5-liter V6 engine with 260 horsepower, a much-needed increase over the 203-hp, 3.0-liter V6 that powered the Five Hundred when it was launched as a 2006 model.

The car also gets a new grille, new tail lamps and rear fascia, new chrome exterior accents, new mirrors, better sound insulation, revisions in the suspension system, and will be available with Ford Sync, a Ford/Microsoft joint project for connecting and controlling cell phones, music players, even providing text messages that can be heard rather than read while driving. Seat-mounted side airbags for the front seats and two-row side-curtain airbags will be standard equipment. Electronic stability control and all-wheel drive will be available. The Taurus X crossover utility wagon gets similar updating; its side-curtain airbags will cover all three rows of seats.

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“It is a very important design win for Microsoft,” said Phil Magney, president and principal analyst at the Minnetonka, Minn.-based Telematics Research Group. The technology connects to a mobile phone for making hands-free calls, and to a portable media device for controlling and playing music through the audio system. Ford will use the name “Sync” for its version of the Microsoft system.

Microsoft will address it later in the day during Chairman Bill Gates’ presentation on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Microsoft previously struck a similar deal with Italy’s Fiat Auto, the company behind the Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia brands. But the Ford pact secures a key spot for Microsoft’s software among the Big 3 North American automakers.

Ford, meanwhile, says it sees the Microsoft system as one way to differentiate its vehicles in the eyes of car buyers. The rollout is expected to start later this calendar year in 2008 model year vehicles and expand in the 2009 model year. The automaker’s “recovery as a business depends upon having products that customers absolutely must own,” said Gary Jablonski, Ford’s manager for infotainment system product development.

The system will show contacts and other information retrieved from the phone on a small display in the car, giving drivers the option of browsing their address books to place calls using voice commands or buttons inside the car. Another feature will read incoming text messages through the speakers and let drivers respond with a number of preset replies. In addition, the system will connect via USB port with iPods and other music devices, including Microsoft’s Zune, to let drivers browse and play music using voice commands or buttons.

Microsoft has worked out a deal to let the system play songs encoded in Apple’s FairPlay AAC format. Previous versions of the Microsoft Auto system played songs from iPods in unprotected formats, but not those encoded in that way. Songs played through the car audio system will still reside on the iPod or other music device, which must be plugged in for the music to play.

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The three-way partnership bewtween Mazda, Ford and Changan has been developing fast over the past two years. The three parties are jointly building a brand new vehicle assembly plant in Nanjing, the second manufacturing base of CFMA, which is able to produce both Mazda and Ford brand cars. The operation of the Nanjing assembly plant is expected in 2007, with an initial annual capacity of 160,000 units.

The three parties are also expanding the capacity of the Chongqing plant, which now claims an annual capacity of 150,000 units, and will be further expanded to 200,000 units by May this year. Part of the expanded capacity in Chongqing is being used for the production of Mazda3. The joint venture is also constructing Changan Ford Mazda Engine which will be operational in 2007.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s interesting though that, even though this is a Shelby GT commercial, they chose to use the Hertz GT-H version. Anybody want a doughnut?

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In fact, they’re confident that more than 100,000 of these new wheeled icons will sell in the U.S. each year, taking their share of what Ford expects will be a three-million-strong segment within a few short years. Because of its role in this blossoming market, not to mention Ford’s need for a profitable hit, executives see the 2007 Edge as “the single most important launch of the year.”

For the most part, the Edge accepts the burden in stride, provided the tasks are limited to basic, everyday commutes. As a daily driver, the Edge offers an inviting, spacious cabin, a competent powertrain, inoffensive styling, and cool options like power folding rear seats and a huge glass roof. What it lacks is a sporting nature (no current sport package, no sport mode for the transmission) and an available third row seat.

Ford points to other models in its lineup for the passenger capacity issue, which basically disregards buyers the Edge brings into the flock who want the crossover’s styling and three rows of seating (Mazda does the same with the CX-7 and CX-9, but those vehicles offer very similar styling). And the sporting nature thing? Buyers are out of luck, at least for now.

What you’re left with is a vehicle that has one or two noteworthy features, yet little else that separates it from an extremely competitive pack, and falls a few letters short of iconic. Ultimately, the “edge” goes to the competition.

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The 2007 Ford Focus features a new option of sport seats with leather seating surfaces and contrasting leather inserts. This seat treatment is also available in the new Interior Upgrade package that features a two-tone leather-wrapped steering wheel on the ST sedan as well as all SE and SES models.

Two new exterior colors are added for 2007 along with a rally-style body-color decklid spoiler in the Street Appearance Package I. A single-disc CD and MP3 capable player is now standard and the optional six-disc CD and MP3 player includes audio controls on the steering column.

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The 2007 Fusion models come standard with side-impact and curtain airbags, an upgrade over 2006. The 2007 models offer Sirius satellite radio and DVD navigation. A front passenger seatback that folds down comes on 2007 Fusion SE and SEL models, making it possible to haul extra-long items, and the 2007 Fusion SE has been upgraded with fog lights and 16-inch wheels.

The Fusion offers a choice of V6 and four-cylinder engines. The four-cylinder is available with a five-speed automatic, and the V6 comes with a six-speed automatic, a feature associated with top-end luxury cars. A five-speed manual gearbox is available with the four-cylinder engine, a welcome option for drivers who prefer to shift.

The cabin is comfortable and well designed with controls that are intuitive and easy to operate. We think the lighter-colored interiors look the best. Crisp lines, big headlamps and a bold, chrome grille give the Fusion a distinctive appearance that we find attractive.

The 2007 Ford Fusion comes with a choice of front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive. Fusion comes in three trim levels, the S, SE and SEL. The standard engine for all of them is the 2.3-liter four-cylinder Duratec rated at 160 horsepower. A five-speed manual transmission is standard, a five-speed automatic transmission is optional ($850). A 3.0-liter V6 engine producing 221 horsepower coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission is available in the SE and SEL trims.

The Fusion S ($17,295) comes standard with cloth upholstery, air conditioning, four-wheel disc brakes, tilt/telescoping steering wheel, power door locks with remote keyless entry, power windows and mirrors, AM/FM stereo with four speakers and a single CD/MP3 player.

The SE ($18,155) adds a six-way power driver seat, a front-passenger seatback that folds down to handle long cargo, two additional speakers, redundant speed and audio controls on the steering wheel, dual illuminated mirrors in the sun visors, fog lamps, premium six-disc in-dash CD/MP3 player and carbon fiber center stack applique. The SE is available with the V6 ($20,888) or V6 and all-wheel drive ($22,730)

The SEL ($19,250) adds automatic headlights, 17-inch wheels, automatic temperature control, upgraded cloth interior, upgraded wood or piano black interior trim, leather wrapped steering wheel and an analog clock. The SEL is also available with the V6 ($21,975), and with the V6 and all-wheel drive ($23,825).

Leather seating ($895) is available for the SE or SEL. Other options include a DVD-based navigation system ($1,895), satellite radio ($195), heated front seats ($295), and a power moonroof ($795).

Safety features include side curtain airbags for head protection in both rows and seat-mounted side-impact airbags for thorax protection for the front seats. That’s in addition to the mandated frontal airbags. LATCH child-seat anchors and rear-door child-safety locks are standard. Three-point belts are provided for all five seating locations, so be sure to wear them because they’re your first line of defense in a crash. Optional safety equipment includes anti-lock brakes ($595). Traction control ($95) is available for front-wheel-drive models with V6 engines.

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Thunderbird builds on that momentum with 28 more horsepower and 25 more foot-pounds of torque for its award-winning 3.9-liter V-8. In addition, Thunderbird receives comprehensive interior upgrades, new exterior colors and more standard features, continuing to deliver a unique combination of classic American “relaxed sportiness,” offering balanced performance with touring comfort.

The rear-wheel-drive Thunderbird comes standard with a power convertible top and is available with a removable top with classic porthole windows. Thunderbird is built in Wixom, Michigan.  The close-coupled proportions of the classic Thunderbird provided the inspiration for this model’s 107.2-inch wheelbase. Its reverse-wedge body shape is higher at the front fender and A-pillar than at the rear, unlike most cars on the road, capturing the laid-back, relaxed character of the originals.

The classic egg-crate grille with three-dimensional texture found on the ‘55-’57 Thunderbirds re-emerges on the new model, and the short front overhang is in keeping with the proportions of the original’s as well. A hood scoop reminiscent of the ‘61 Thunderbird is incorporated into the Sheet-Molded-Composite hood. A long-wing chromed Thunderbird is set into the fascia above the grille. Dual headlights are round with integral parking lamps and turn indicators under a clear lens.

Front fenders are made of SMC, while chrome louvers set in the fender hint at the chrome louvers on early Thunderbird roadsters. The 64-degree angle of the large chromed A-pillar and header gives the look of strength, solidity and safety of former Thunderbird models, while at the same time giving an updated, precisely crafted appearance. The rocker panels are curved sharply under the body to conceal steel reinforcements that improve body strength and rigidity. At the rear, small cutouts highlight the chrome-tipped exhaust pipes.

The Thunderbird was developed to deliver sportiness without compromising comfort. Accomplishing this goal means eliminating unwanted noises and tuning preferred noises to the desired sound quality.  A computer-aided-engineering technique called statistical energy analysis was used to understand convertible acoustics and build a balanced package. Testing led to the decision to increase the density of the convertible top liner and sealing and barrier material to reduce road noise.  Additional isolation from wind noise results from the doors’ drop-glass feature. When the Thunderbird door is opened, the side glass lowers just slightly. When the door is closed, the glass goes back up to fit snugly into the seal system.

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