#ford

Changes in the EV tax credit rules have been confusing and made it hard to determine which cars are eligible for credits. Some automakers argued that the rules would unfairly harm their business and ability to compete, and we’re now starting to see how some of the changes are shaking out. Automotive News reported that the top eight EVs in the U.S. in January were built in North America, while Hyundai and Kia fell back.

We continue our Rare Rides coverage of the unfortunate Lincoln Continental Mark VI today, and take a deep dive into its cobbled-together and frequently shuffled trims, the Designer Series in particular. In a last-of moment, the Mark VI quickly lost the exclusivity it once carried as Lincoln’s purveyor of fine designer styling.

While it’s fairly common to hear people argue about the true usefulness of modern automotive features, there are some inclusions nobody seems to mind. Automakers cannot seem to add enough places for people to plug in electrical devices. Parents want USB ports for the entire family, pickup truck owners want outlets tucked into the bed, and people doing vehicle modifications want a simple way to power the accessories they probably didn’t need but decided to buy anyway.

To that effect, Ford has patented a powered roof rail system that seems custom-made for proprietary accessories requiring electricity and it doesn’t even sound like it’ll be all that hard to install.

We return to our Lincoln Mark series today, and the newly Panther-tized Mark VI coupe and sedan. We’ve already examined the exterior differences between Marks V and VI, as Lincoln designers attempted to replicate the successful looks of their late Seventies PLC with much less length and width available. Design freedom was additionally hampered by new platform sharing with the 1980 Continental, for which the Mark VI basically served as a top trim. Today we’ll check out the Mark’s newly modernized interior.

Occasionally, a company comes out with an ad campaign that is so unique that it takes a few minutes to understand what’s going on. Ford just hit that mark with its new Explorer ad, which celebrates the role women have played in the auto industry by highlighting all the things we wouldn’t have without their contributions.

A frequent remark about EV pickups is an argument that thanks to the limitations of electric motors and their attendant batteries, trucks powered by electrons can’t do the same amount of work as their gas-powered twins.

Turns out, if Ford’s findings are any indication, some EV pickup owners are actually using their workhorses more frequently than ICE owners. 

Following an extended production pause of the all-electric Lightning pickup, Ford has signaled its intention to boost production through the rest of 2023 – especially when it comes to its most in-demand models. While it’s undoubtedly wise for Blue Oval to ensure it can build enough vehicles to satisfy demand, the automaker is also trying to turn around any perceptions that it might be falling behind with EVs. Meanwhile, Ford is providing itself with an opportunity to preemptively dunk on General Motors after news broke that the rival automaker would walk back full-size pickup production to “ maintain optimal inventory levels.”

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has announced an order for over 9,000 all-electric vans from the Ford Motor Company – presumably to help settle some of the drama surrounding the selected replacement for the venerable Grumman LLV.

We know the upcoming Ford Mustang will offer a hi-po Dark Horse trim, and that trim will be available with carbon-fiber wheels. They won't be cheap.

Question is -- if you can afford the Dark Horse, would you pay more for these wheels?

Blue Oval bean counters have saddled the new-for-’24 Mustang with pricing details. Good news for pony car fans – the numbers are actually realistic.

I or another staffer has probably asked this QOTD before, and it will probably come up again, but hands-free driving is fresh in my mind.

The number of U.S. vehicle owners who are more than 59 days behind in their auto loan payments was 26.7 percent higher at the end of 2022 than they were at the end of 2021. This is due to a myriad of factors. Car payments have gotten larger, loan terms have increased, inflation has devalued the currency, and subprime borrowers are finding themselves on the wrong end of a widening wealth gap. 

While automotive repossessions declined during the pandemic, mainly due to lenders offering amnesty periods, they’ve likewise spiked through the end of 2022. This trend is assumed to continue, setting up a lot of business for repo men. However, Ford Motor Co. has patented a system that would effectively make vehicles unresponsive to drivers that have missed a few payments. Meanwhile, automobiles boasting the latest advanced driving technologies could allegedly repossess themselves. 

Continuing the saga of hiccups with what is arguably Ford’s most important product in decades, Blue Oval suits are pulling the trigger on prolonging production downtime for one extra week in the wake of a battery fire earlier this year.

Alert readers may recall a series of hiccups that have befallen the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning so far this year, including a battery fire in a truck that was parked in a holding pen near company facilities. Ford is obviously working feverishly to fix any problems. One roadblock on the road to repair might involve words this author rarely gets to type: Industrial espionage.

And they’re not related to the fire which we reported last week. This quality issue, reported by CNBC and other outlets within the last 24 hours, is related to “performance degradation”. In fact, about 100 owners were apparently asked a week before the fire to have their vehicles serviced for a separate issue.