The Ford Focus has notched up the enviable title of world’s best-selling car for 2012. Nearly 490,000 units of the Blue Oval hatchback have been sold worldwide during the first half of this year, and, according to HIS Automotive, that makes it the single best-selling car.
Tag Archives: Ford
Focus is world’s best-selling car in 2012
Ford B-Max – "This is no Ford Fusion"
Ford has been talking about its radical new B-Max small MPV – the first full five seater to have no central pillar between the front and rear doors, and about its predecessor, the unloved Fusion.
In a piece of refreshing honesty, Ford UK’s Managing Director, Mark Ovenden, said, “I will admit that the Fusion could have been better in terms of style, but it had a 1 per cent market share, and most of our competitors would die for volumes like that. And it was phenomenally successful in Russia.” The funny thing about the Fusion is that everyone treated it as a failure, but it actually did sell well – albeit to the parents (or sometimes grandparents) of the people its deluded advertising was aimed at.
Ford backs new manufacturing institute
Despite the news that the UK recession has deepened even further than expected with industry hit badly, plans for a manufacturing institute are steaming ahead, with Ford backing the scheme.
The High Speed Sustainable Manufacturing Institute (HSSMI) is being launched by the Government at the Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence (CEME) in East London. By conducting industrial research, it aims to improve the efficiency of British manufacturers and suppliers by integrating state-of-the-art technologies from top academic organisations into volume manufacturing processes.
Ford promises to cut traffic jams with Traffic Jam Assist
Unfortunately, it won’t be ready for the Olympics, but Ford reckons it can offer a car that automatically drives itself in traffic jams by 2017 – and the company says that will dramatically cut delays.Ford says that studies have found that where 25 percent of vehicles on a stretch of road are equipped to automatically follow the traffic ahead, journey times can be reduced by 37.5 percent and delays reduced by 20 percent. Apparently, we get so bored and frustrated that we lose concentration and miss opportunities to keep up with the car in front.
New Ford Mondeo delayed
Ford has allegedly admitted that the new Mondeo will be delayed by six months, possibly until September 2013. According to Autobeat Europe, the launch, which was expected to be in March, then in June, has been delayed by unspecified quality and type approval issues.
