Ford F-Series Trucks Number One for 35 Years Running

January 30th, 2012

Any long-time fan of the Ford F-Series trucks won’t be surprised to hear that for the 35th year in a row, the F-Series is the best-selling truck in America. And it has been America’s best-selling vehicle overall for 30 years. With 584,917 trucks sold in 2011, the F-Series was the only vehicle to break the 500,000 vehicle sales mark for the year.

Obviously, F-Series owners love their trucks. But in addition to that, Motor Trend magazine named the F-150 2012 Truck of the Year®, the fourth time the F-150 has captured that honor. Motor Trend praised the variety of configurations, powertrain options, efficiency, value, advanced design and performance.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ford Phrase of the Day: Elliptical Acoustic Mirror

January 30th, 2012

Now, that’s something you’ve possibly never heard of, an elliptical acoustic mirror. Ford engineers used it to measure noise as well as pinpoint the source of it on the all-new Escape – specifically, on the surface of the vehicle, such as wind – in order to ensure the interior would be quieter than the previous model. As you can see from the photo, it sort of looks like a satellite dish with a microphone.

It was the first use of the technology on a Ford sport utility vehicle, and you could call its usage in the United States downright groundbreaking. However, it has been utilized more commonly by European luxury vehicle manufacturers, and even more interesting is that the science behind acoustic mirrors can be traced back almost 100 years! A precursor to radar, it was used for “listening” for and detecting enemy aircraft along the coast of Great Britain during World War I.

Read the rest of this entry »

Stop By the Auto Show Tonight or Saturday to Meet Our Sales Team…

January 26th, 2012

…And get a glimpse of the all new 2013 Ford Fusion, Ford Escape, and award-winning Mazda CX-5! Our staff will be on hand from 6:30 to close tonight, and from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Ford and Mazda display areas.We hope to see you there. In the mean time, check out Wood TV8′s preview:

An Up-close Look at the 2013 Ford Fusion

January 23rd, 2012

The growing number of Ford Fusion customers, as well as owners of competing vehicles, will have more reasons than ever to check out the all-new 2013 Ford Fusion the debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. We caught up with John Jraiche, Chief Program Manager for the Ford Fusion, at the show and asked him to highlight some of the technology in the new model.

We also flew four Ford fans out to Detroit for the show, and when we unveiled the Fusion, they got to check it out first-hand.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ford at the North American International Auto Show

January 23rd, 2012

Not long ago (what, like three weeks?), telling someone he had his head in the clouds was not necessarily a good thing. Say that now and it means he is a tech-savvy hipster! If you’ve never heard the phrase “the cloud” or “cloud computing” before, it looks like it’s here to stay and you need to bone up on it, which rather loosely means you can access data hosted off-site (think: virtual server) from pretty much anywhere online.

Why is this relevant to Ford? Because cloud computing is the next big thing for in-vehicle technology, and the Ford show display at the 2012 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit gave attendees a view from “the Cloud,” providing a sneak peek of what’s in store for Blue Oval vehicles.

Read the rest of this entry »

2012 Mazda3 Named Top Safety Pick

January 23rd, 2012

The 2012 Mazda3 was recognized as a “Top Safety Pick” by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS). Refreshed for 2012, both sedan and hatchback models received the organization’s highest possible crash safety rating of “good” in all four tests conducted.

“Mazda3 is an important vehicle for Mazda on so many levels,” said Jim O’Sullivan, president and CEO, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO).

Read the rest of this entry »

2013 Mazda CX-5: The SUV with the Best Highway Mileage

January 23rd, 2012

Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today announced official fuel economy figures for the all-new 2013 CX-5 compact SUV, as rated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with highway mileage of some models as high as 35 miles per gallon (mpg).

Mazda’s first vehicle fully engrained with SKYACTIV® TECHNOLOGY, the brand’s breakthrough engineering and manufacturing approach to its next generation of vehicles, offers unprecedented non-hybrid best-in-class fuel economy for all transmission and drivetrain configurations.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ford F-150 Named 2012 Motor Trend Truck of the Year®

January 9th, 2012

Winning an impressive award? All in a day’s work.

Toughness and rugged durability now merge with prestige and accolades. The Ford F-150 is the proud recipient of the 2012 Motor Trend Truck of the Year®.

When it comes to capability, power and performance, Motor Trend must have realized the competition didn’t stand a chance. The F-150 offers best-in-class trailer-towing capacity (11,300 lbs.) It can haul more than any other truck in its class—up to 3,120 lbs.

Read the rest of this entry »

2013 Mazda CX-5 Crossover of the Year

January 9th, 2012

The all-new 2013 Mazda CX-5 compact SUV was today named the Autobytel 2012 Crossover of the Year. A segment newcomer, CX-5 is the first Mazda to fully encompass SKYACTIV® TECHNOLOGY, the brand’s engineering-focused philosophy toward improving all-around vehicle efficiency, and is expected to offer best-in-class fuel economy when the vehicle goes on sale in the spring of 2012.

“The 2013 CX-5 is poised to join a fast-growing and increasingly competitive compact SUV segment,” said Jim O’Sullivan, president and CEO, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO).

Read the rest of this entry »

Ford is Ready to Rock the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show

January 7th, 2012

Ford is in its final preparations for its fourth year at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in a big way. Here’s a quick preview of some of the exciting technology to expect from Ford at the 2012 CES.

First, the show will mark the North American debut of the Ford Evos Concept Vehicle. This vehicle was first shown at the 64th Frankfurt International Motor Show, held September 15-25, 2011, and it provides a big hint regarding the DNA of the next generation of Ford cars and crossovers.

Read the rest of this entry »