Ford Improves Gas Mileage

Fueleconomy.gov continues to release 2009 EPA estimates as we inch toward the new year. On average, we’ve seen slight gains from many existing models and larger ones for new models. Automakers are making modest changes to carryover models because buyers are demanding more fuel-efficient vehicles, and all-new models aren’t in the immediate pipeline for every car out there.

We’ve already mentioned fuel economy increases for GM, Chrysler and Hyundai products; now it’s Ford’s turn.

Ford F-Series Reclaims Crown as Best-Selling Vehicle in U.S.

July was a tough month for most automakers. It was worst for GM, whose sales were down 34.2% compared to July 2007. Chrysler was close behind at 29%. Toyota saw sales drop 18%, which was even worse than Ford’s 14% decline. However, people are still buying cars and trucks, even if at a reduced rate. The top 10 best-selling vehicles list has once again shifted. Huge discounts have pushed the Ford F-150 pickup back to the top of the heap, even though sales are down compared to last year. Some good news for domestics included the Chevy Malibu seeing sales increase more than 60%, and the Ford Focus going up 15%. Top Ten list is below.

What Ford Will Look Like in 2010

This morning Ford announced a rather large loss in the second quarter of 2008 — $8.7 billion. Because the company needs to reassure stockholders and Wall Street of its future, Ford has detailed its product plans for the next two years in rather explicit detail. It seems dire economic times have broken through the secretive process Detroit automakers have had in place for decades. Check out our in-depth look at what products Ford will field in the next two years from Europe and North America, and if they’ll be worth the wait. We detail future Lincoln and Mercury products in a separate post.

Toyota Corolla Best-Selling Car in the Country, Sort Of

Sales numbers for June are rolling in, and the list of the top 10 sellers in the country has once again shifted. Last month the Honda Civic took the top spot away from the Ford F-150, and now the Toyota Corolla has taken the No. 1 mantle. Before Toyota can claim the spot, though, we must tell readers that Toyota includes Matrix sales along with that Corolla number because they’re built on the same platform.

We don’t agree with that form of accounting, but Toyota’s Camry came in second, so even without the added Matrix sales it still would have come out on top. The Civic slid to third.

Overall sales were down for Ford, GM, Chrysler and Toyota — yes, Toyota — as people start pinching pennies. Many other automakers saw upticks — most significantly Honda, but Kia, Hyundai and Subaru also saw numbers go up. Hyundai sold more than 50,000 vehicles in a month for the first time ever last month, with the Accent, Sonata and Elantra seeing big increases.

Below is the new top 10.

Ford Delays 2009 F-150 Launch

From PickupTrucks.com: Amid rapidly declining demand for full-size pickups, Ford Motor Company has announced it will delay the on-sale-date of the 2009 Ford F-150 by two months to the fourth quarter of 2008. The late launch will also help Ford dealers sell down inventories of the current F-150 before the new model arrives.

Read more here.

Ford Not Publishing Employee F-150 Pricing, Forcing Dealer Visits

Earlier this week, Ford announced that it would apply employee pricing to the outgoing 2008 F-Series line of trucks. At the time, they hadn’t announced how much people could save with the deal. Sometimes when a promotion is implemented this quickly, it takes a few days to update websites, etc. However, Ford has confirmed it is not going to be releasing the employee pricing deals at all and that truck shoppers will have to visit their dealer to find out how much they could save. When employee pricing was first used in the summer of 20062005, those adjusted prices were published.

The only numbers posted on Ford’s website is that the starting price of an F-150 will be $16,274 with the employee deal instead of the MSRP of $17,700. That’s a savings of $1,426. In the small print they detail the truck shown, a 2008 F-150 XLT, and list its employee price as $21,061. The XLT starts at $23,910. The savings would be $2,849. In past employee deals, savings also tended to rise with the price of the vehicle.

As we know all too well at Cars.com, car shoppers tend to research their car purchases online before they go into a dealer. We think Ford’s decision ton hold back the pricing info may stunt the sale’s effectiveness. What do you think?

Ford Revives Employee Pricing on F-Series

The employee pricing promotions of a few summers ago are back as domestic automakers’ sales plunged again in May. Most of the poor sales were for trucks and SUVs, because of high gas prices and that’s one reason Ford is focusing on its F-Series for a new employee pricing deal. A redesigned 2009 F-Series will also go on sale this fall, which has likely already lowered demand for the outgoing 2008s. The incentives include the F-150, F-250 and F-350. It does not include Harley Davidson or chassis cab models. No other Ford vehicles are included, yet many still have large incentives.

The sale began yesterday and other cash back incentives can be combined with the employee pricing. Currently the F-150 has $2,500 in cash back nationally, although that number can vary (and may be higher) by region. Ford has not yet released what the employee pricing actually is. We will update this post when they do and break down the final prices. 

More Ford F-150 News (KickingTires)
Incentives: Rebates & Offers (Cars.com)

Small Ford Truck a Possibility

Mike Levine at PickupTrucks.com is following rumors of a replacement for Ford’s long-running — read, “old” — Ranger compact pickup. The reasoning behind a completely new model —which would be larger than the Ranger but considerably smaller than the F-150 — is as simple as fuel costs and changing consumer buying habits.

Perhaps dubbed the F-100, the new truck would be built on a completely new frame shared with the next F-150 — not the redesigned 2009 F-150, but the next-gen model slated to be out in 2012. Yes, we’re talking 2011 before this F-100 might go on sale.

You’d think a smaller truck would be slated to get a super fuel-efficient four-cylinder engine or a turbocharged four. Nope; word is, it’ll get a turbocharged six-cylinder, and possibly a V-8. We’re scratching our heads on that one.

The image here is an artist's rendering of what an F-100 might look like. Courtesy of PickupTrucks.com

Rumors That Ford is Thinking Smaller With New F-100 Pickup, Based on the F-150 (PickupTrucks.Com)

Recall Alert: 650,000 2005-06 Ford F-150s

Ford is recalling all of its 2005 and 2006 F-150 pickups equipped with the 5.4-liter V-8 engine due to a faulty brake hose. The hose can come loose from the intake manifold, causing a loss in power for braking. Drivers can still stop an affected truck by using the brakes, they’ll just need to apply more force to the pedal.

Ford said 11 minor accidents have been reported, but no injuries.

The recall will begin in June, and the brake hoses will be replaced free of charge. Lincoln Mark LT trucks from the 2005 and 2006 model years are also included in the recall. 

For more information, concerned owners can call Ford at 1-800-392-3673.

Ford recalls over 650,000 pickups for brake hose (Reuters)

Ford Incentives Up, Include Specialty Models

April has begun, and Ford has updated its incentives for the rest of the month. There are some very interesting deals to be had. We’ll break down all the models soon enough, but the most interesting tidbit of information for car enthusiasts is that both the Ford Mustang Bullitt and the upcoming Ford F-150 Chip Foose Edition are getting cash back just like their plain-jane brethren. 

The 2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt is already on sale, and the Bullitt package costs an additional $3,310 on top of the cost of a regular Ford Mustang GT. Rebates range from $1,000 to $1,500, with an additional $1,000 offered in some regions if you go with Ford Credit to purchase the vehicle.*

Depending on where you live, that means you could pay just a $810 premium to have the special edition, which adds horsepower and suspension tweaks.

The 2008 Ford F-150 Chip Foose Edition isn’t on sale yet, but the roughly $55,000 sport truck will come to market over the next few months with between $3,000 and $3,500 cash back (plus that potential $1,000 in financing cash) on the intricately detailed hood.

Other rebates are more pedestrian, but still noteworthy: