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July 2, 2008 |
| Ford-inspired toy cars: Fast, furious and fun | |
 Beanie Babies are all grown up and the Rubik’s Cube was solved long ago, but children’s love of toy cars and trucks just seems to motor on. This summer, Ford Motor Company-inspired toys – from the classic Hot Wheels version of the 1969 Ford Torino Talladega to the elaborate Fisher-Price Power Wheels Ford F-150 with Monster Traction – remain among the hottest sellers in the toy market. In fact, toy manufacturers represent the majority of Ford’s 300 licensees, with the Mustang and F-150 weighing as the most popular Ford-licensed brands. “We’re building a relationship with the consumer that starts when they’re just a kid,” said John Nens, director, Ford Global Brand Licensing.[More...] |
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Dan Jarvis | djarvis@ford.com | (313) 845-2709 |
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| From the home office here in Dearborn … top 10 ways the Model T changed the world | |
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Marisa Bradley | mbradl31@ford.com | 313-845-3791 |
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| A greener SUV from the Blue Oval | |
 A fuel-efficient SUV does not have to be an oxymoron. In developing the new Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner, Ford’s engineering team didn’t settle for increasing power, comfort and performance. They accomplished all of that and delivered best-in-class fuel economy for 4-cylinder SUVs through a new2.5-liter engine and an efficient 6-speed automatic transmission. The result is a small SUV that delivers 20 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway. And the 2009 Escape and Mariner Hybrids remain the most fuel-efficient SUVs on the planet, delivering 34 city mpg and an improved highway rating of 31 mpg – a 1 mpg increase versus the 2008 models.[More ...] |
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Alan Hall | ahall32@ford.com | 313-594-3744 |
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| Ford Focus: A more APEAL-ing small car | |
 Car buyers are an increasing tough lot to satisfy in this day of myriad choices, uniformly better quality and burgeoning in-vehicle technology. But the hot-selling Ford Focus cracked the code, showing more improvement than any other model in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, the industry’s top study measuring customer-pleasing design, content, and vehicle performance. Focus raised its score over last year by 88 index points. The popular compact car performed better than the segment average in every category, scoring especially well in the areas of fuel economy, audio/entertainment/navigation, interior styling and exterior styling.[More ...] |
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Anne Marie Gattari | agattari@ford.com | 313-587-925 |
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| Explorer shines in low-speed crash test | |
 The fender-bender in the parking lot does not have jack up your insurance rates up and clean out your bank account. Some farsighted development decision by the engineering team behind the Ford Explorer means the 2008 Ford Explorer is more resistant to damage and less likely to cause damage to other vehicles in low-speed crashes than other midsize SUVs, according to a recent report by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. One the secrets to the Explorer’s crash performance was a decision to lower the front bumper by nearly 2 inches for 2002 model year Explorer to better , to better align with the crash structures of passenger cars. The 2008 Explorer retains that design. In front-to-rear collision tests, the other SUVs overrode the rear bumpers of stationary Hyundai Sonatas causing damage ranging from $3,891 to $4,737, and each SUV sustained more than $1,000 damage. By comparison, the Explorer sustained less than $1,000 damage, and it inflicted only about one-third as much damage on the midsize sedan.[More ...] |
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Wes Sherwood | wsherwoo@ford.com | 313-390-5660 |
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