1959 Ford F100 Truck 292 Motor 3 Speed Manual Tranny on 2040-cars

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Ford bringing adaptive steering to the masses [w/video]

Within the next year, Ford will offer a brand-new adaptive steering system (unimaginatively dubbed "Ford Adaptive Steering"), and this week, the automaker invited us out to its proving grounds in Dearborn, MI to get a taste for how its new setup works. In function, Ford's system doesn't greatly differ from the majority of other adaptive steering units already on the market from companies like Audi or BMW, but consider this: Ford will be the first non-luxury automaker to offer this technology, and uniquely, the whole system fits inside the car's steering wheel.
Ford's engineers have worked hard to create a system that can be tacked on to the company's full lineup of cars, trucks and utility vehicles, and says that the adaptive steering will be uniquely tuned for each specific vehicle. The automaker will not confirm exactly which vehicle will launch with this technology, but for the purpose of our preview, we tested the technology in a 2014 Fusion - a vehicle with already-good behind-the-wheel feel, one that the company says best demonstrates its current steering efforts.

Ford dealer loses Super Bowl bet, pays $300K to lucky customers [w/video]

A Missouri Ford dealership's Super Bowl weekend sale cost it big when the improbable happened. Hutcheson Ford ran a promotion from January 29 to February 1, called the Super Weekend Sale. The gist was, if any customer purchased a vehicle between those dates and either the opening or second-half kickoff of the big game was returned for a touchdown, the dealership would refund the purchase price.
In the dealership's defense, it seemed like a safe bet. According to the mathematicians, there was just a 2.5-percent chance of either half opening with a touchdown return. But that didn't stop Seattle's Percy Harvin from doing his part to ruin Denver's evening, returning the second-half kick for an 87-yard touchdown run. Twelve Hutcheson customers were eligible for refunds thanks to the return, with prices ranging from $10,000 to $55,000, according to Automotive News. The total amount shelled out by the dealership? $300,000.
"At least we're not like that furniture guy that lost $7 million," dealership marketing manager Kathleen Frazier told AN. We think it was a big success." The dealership did take out insurance to cover its losses, meaning the $300K won't come entirely from its pockets.

Ford Focus was best-selling nameplate in 2012

Last August, Ford made a few waves by claiming that the Ford Focus was, at that point, the top-selling car in the world. The automaker failed to account for variations of the Toyota Corolla wearing a different name (such as the Auris and Matrix), however. With official data from Polk coming in now, Ford is able to say that the Focus was, in fact, the best-selling nameplate in the world last year.
Using new-car registrations (which doesn't factor in fleet sales), the Polk data shows that a total of more than one million Focus models around the world. Strong sales in the US and China have led to a 16 percent increase in year-over-year Focus sales from 2011 that helped to create even more of a gap between it and the second-best global seller, the Corolla.
Ford also had the Fiesta and F-Series listed in the top 10 for worldwide nameplates, but what's even more impressive is the fact that the F-Series is only sold in North America. Scroll down to see the list (compiled by Ford using Polk data) of the top global sellers last year and a press release from Ford.