2013 Ford Flex: 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show Preview
The 2013 Ford Flex will be seen in public for the first time in two weeks at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, but the first photos are out--and if you thought the Flex couldn't get any more edgy, you would be wrong.
First and foremost, the 2013 Flex wears a new nose that channels its inner geek perfectly. From the straight-on, the new Flex looks exactly like a USB port. The FLEX lettering on the nose might as well read "8GB," since there's no longer a blue Ford oval on the front end, anywhere. The softer look follows inside, where controls have been re-zoned to accommodate MyFord Touch.
MyFord Touch is the new pinnacle of infotainment and connectivity in the Flex, which led Ford's efforts in the arena back in 2009 with relatively advanced features like real-time traffic and weather reports on the go. With MyFord Touch's twin LCD screens on the dash and an eight-inch LCD touchscreen on the center console, the Flex now runs the same firmware as the Edge and Explorer, using a combination of voice commands, touches and swipes, and steering-wheel button clicks to run phone, audio, climate and navigation systems.
The Flex's OS will be the updated MyFord Touch system that was announced earlier this week, with improved screen layouts and less dense displays of information. Every Flex will come with at least a base configuration of SYNC, with emergency features and phone and audio control.
Safety technology is addressed with the addition of second-row inflatable seat belts like those in the new Explorer. They're accompanied by adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitors, and the previously available rearview camera.
The Flex's powertrain has received some attention as well. The base 3.5-liter V-6 now generates 285 horsepower, up 20 hp from the 2012 model, and has highway fuel economy that's improved by one mile per gallon. The turbocharged EcoBoost engine maintains 355 hp.
New features on the Flex include power-folding side mirrors; keyless entry and remote start; heated and ventilated front seats; and a new manual-mode switch on base models with some level of manual gear selection. All Flex crossovers now have electric power steering as well.
Stay tuned for more on the 2013 Flex, live from the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, which opens to the media on November 16.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Ford Makes MyFordTouch Infotainment System Simpler, Faster: Video
Following a chorus of criticism of its MyFordTouch system, Ford has upgraded the software for the 2013 model year--and will make the upgrade available for all vehicles that have been sold with earlier versions.
The company is continuing to make MyFordTouch available on its lineup of new vehicles.
The latest Ford models to be offered with MyFordTouch are the 2013 Taurus and 2013 Flex--although it is not yet offered on the company's best-selling model line, the F-Series pickup truck range.
It will also be available on the all-new Ford Escape compact crossover, which is to be unveiled to the public next week at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.
Faster responses, cleaner screens
The upgrade includes faster response for touch-screen inputs, better voice recognition, and compatibility with a wider range of mobile phones as well as tablets and Audible.com e-books.
Phone connection on entering the car has been made faster, and Ford improved the noise and echo cancellation for phone calls made through MyFordTouch over a Bluetooth connection.
The screen display designs are simpler, with larger type for the most often used functions, fewer options, and less clutter. Ford says that altogether, it redesigned the graphics of more than 1,000 different screens.
The map and navigation displays are also improved, including a new 3-D display for map data, richer information on nearby landmarks, and photorealistic screen displays of freeway exits and road signs.
Consumer Reports hit
In the latest Consumer Reports magazine reliability survey, Ford tumbled from 10th to 20th place in overall reliability, in part because of consumer reports that the MyFordTouch system was slow to respond, hard to navigate, and sometimes froze altogether.
Ford surveyed hundreds of owners, it says, who said the availability of MyFordTouch is a major reason they bought its cars.
But they also consistently requested better explanations on how the system worked, including both personalized training at their dealers and better tutorials on the SyncMyRide website.
Current users also wanted faster screen response, and Ford says the upgraded system responds to user inputs at least twice as fast as the prior version.
Consumers who already have MyFordTouch in their cars can either perform the upgrade themselves--using a USB drive that Ford plans to mail out--or have it done at a Ford dealer.
SYNC upgrade
Separately, Ford announced last month that it would integrate the ability to read text messages aloud into its SYNC system, and make that capability available as a software upgrade for existing cars.
When activated, the SYNC system will alert the driver that a message is available, and the driver can tell the system to read it aloud via the steering-wheel controls. A choice of 15 canned responses--including "I'm stuck in traffic" and "Too funny"--can be sent in response.
The system will only be able to read text messages from mobile phones that use a specific Bluetooth format called Message Access Protocol, or MAP. The function is built into all versions of MyFordTouch, and is now being extended to the basic SYNC system as well.
Owners can find out whether their vehicle is eligible for this upgrade by visiting the SyncMyRide website and entering their vehicle identification number.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
Toyota Camry, Audi S8: Top Targets For Car Theft
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released new data on U.S. car theft, and the statistics aren't especially surprising. According to the report, more Toyota Camrys were stolen than any other vehicle in America, but performance models like the Audi S8 actually had the highest rate of theft.
The data comes from 2009 (the NHTSA is still crunching numbers from 2010), and if you're the sort of person who enjoys poring over spreadsheets, this is a fascinating way to spend your Friday afternoon. The NHTSA ranked vehicles according to their rates of theft, and at the very top of the list, we find the 2009 Audi S8.
If you own a 2009 S8, however, you likely weren't a victim: just two of the 227 units manufactured that year were stolen. However, because the NHTSA ranks vehicles by their rate of theft per 1,000 vehicles produced, the S8's theft rate is magnified to 8.81. A similar effect put the 2009 Ford Shelby GT and 2009 BMW M5 in the #2 and #3 spots, with five and two thefts, respectively.
In terms of sheer volume, though, more 2009 models of the Toyota Camry/Solara were stolen than any other car produced that year. That's probably to be expected, though, because more 2009 Toyota Camrys and Solaras were manufactured than any other car: in all, thieves drove off with 781 of the 447,882 units Toyota made. Because of the high production rate, though, the theft rate for the Camry/Solara was just 1.74 per 1,000.
Clocking in at #2 was another Toyota -- the 2009 Corolla -- with 632 of 363,515 units stolen. The 2008 Chevrolet Impala came in at #3, with 499 units stolen out of 183,769 produced.
That said, there were plenty of 2009 models that thieves missed altogether. Some are no-brainers, like the 2009 Bentley Azure (just 66 units produced), the 2009 Lotus Exige (27 produced), and the 2009 Spyker C8 (18 produced). Others are a little more curious: for example, despite being fairly popular rides, no baddies thought to nab a 2009 Mazda Miata (4,293 produced) or a 2009 Volvo XC90 (6,806 produced)?
CONCLUSIONS
As with any compilation of data, this one raises as many questions as it answers. For example, since calendar years and model years don't neatly align, we have to wonder how many 2009 models were stolen in 2008? Or in 2010, for that matter? Is the 2009 Camry more desirable than other model years? And what about trucks and SUVs, which were mostly left off the NHTSA's list?
One thing we know for sure is that car theft rates are slipping. In 2009, the average was 1.33 vehicles stolen per 1,000. That's down 21.3% from the rate of 1.69 thefts per 1,000 that the NHTSA recorded in 2008.
Why the drop? The NHTSA attributes it to "increased use of standard antitheft devices (i.e., immobilizers), vehicle parts marking, increased and improved prosecution efforts by law enforcement organizations and increased public awareness measures".
But what about you: have bad guys (or gals) tried to run off with your car? Were they successful? And if not, why not? Drop us a line with the details, or leave a note in the comments section below.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
As Car Sales Increase, Bargains Will Likely Be Harder To Find
Thanks in part to record incentives, car sales in the United States are up, but that brings with it both good news and bad news. First the good news: consumers don’t spend money on things like automobiles unless they have confidence in the economy, which could mean that the worst of the recession is behind us.Now the bad news: more car sales mean less incentives and discounts from manufacturers, especially since the excess inventory that’s plagued the industry in recent years has been all but eliminated.
Japanese manufacturers are still recovering from the March disasters in Japan, so inventory levels at most Japanese brands are just beginning to normalize. Flooding in Thailand has disrupted production of certain Japanese car brands (most notably Honda), but we’re still a month or so away from seeing this in dealer showrooms.
With foreign cars in short supply and domestic quality on the rise, consumers embraced U.S. automakers this year, lowering inventory levels at GM, Ford and Chrysler dealerships. Smartmoney tells us that Ford has reduced available incentives by 13 percent in October, and it’s cutting rebates even further in November.
Thanks to record low interest rates, buyers with exceptional credit can still find good deals on auto financing, and some manufacturers (like Audi, for example) are actively promoting low interest financing.
If you’re in the market for a new car, it may pay to put off a buying decision until December. Inventory levels aren’t likely to improve, but manufacturers may be more inclined to deal in order to make year-end targets.
This story originally appeared at The Car Connection
October Auto Sales: The Leading Edge Of An Economic Rebound?
While U.S. economic news is hardly good, somehow auto sales again proved to be a bright spot in October.
As the housing sector remains on a downward slide in much of the country, manufacturing growth slowed, and economists wondered how Greece's nearing economic meltdown will affect the global economy, Americans are buying cars at a surprisingly hot rate. At early tallies, industry-wide auto sales this past month looked about ten percent higher than last October.
General Motors [NYSE: GM] and Ford Motor Co. [NYSE: F] both reported modest gains year-over-year, but it was Chrysler that really picked up the pace in October. Sales of the Chrysler brand itself were up 28 percent, compared to last October, while company-wide, gains were almost as good, at 27 percent.
Volkswagen, which just started assembling 2012 Passat models in Tennessee, reported sales up about 40 percent, and Hyundai sales were up 23 percent, both compared to last October. And Kia continued to surge, with its calendar-year-to-date sales now more than 35 percent higher than this time in 2010. Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Volvo also showed especially strong gains from last October.
The continued growth for those two Korean brands is all the more impressive when considering that Incentives for Hyundai and Kia, among major automakers, remained the lowest in the business—about $1,145 per vehicle, and down 23 percent from last year, according to TrueCar.com. Chrysler has managed to roll back some of its incentives, but it still gives out the most per vehicle; Honda, Nissan, and Toyota are also offering higher incentives than last year.
Honda revealed this past week that production of some of its models will be affected by the flooding in Thailand; furthermore, we reported today, it might also affect the rollout of a redesigned 2012 Honda CR-V. This comes on the heels of a dragging recovery from supply interruptions resulting from the catastrophic March earthquake in Japan.
Analyists for months have suggested that the auto industry is bucking the general economic trends because shell-shocked Americans had simply deferred vehicle purchases as long as they could.
That theory is beginning to be replaced with real optimism that this news might indicate that the economy is bouncing back on 'Main Street' terms. There are some signs that more Americans are finding jobs—and a number of economists expect good news in the next federal jobs figures for October, due this Friday. As a hint of that, the polling firm Gallup found in mid-October that unemployment was around 8.3 percent, down from 9.2 in late August and 10.0 a year ago. Gallup also noticed a significant drop in 'underemployment'—those working part-time who want to be full-time.
Read on for more details from the individual automakers:
General Motors: Chevrolet sales were up 6 percent, but slower sales at GMC, Buick, and Cadillac saw the automaker's figure up 2 percent versus last October. Retail deliveries were up a more impressive three percent. The automaker attributed the launch of the new Chevrolet Sonic and Buick LaCrosse eAssist, as well as strong sales of the Chevy Equinox and Camaro, plus the Cadillac SRX, Buick Regal, and GMC Terrain. More than 1,100 Chevy Volt models were delivered this past month.
Ford: Compared to last October, Ford Motor Company sales were up 6 percent versus last year. Leading that surge were sales of the company's utility vehicles, like the Explorer and Escape. And even though the Escape is about to be replaced, sales of the aged crossover were up 31 percent versus last year and at a record 206,696 sold so far this year. Fiesta, Focus, and Fusion were also up versus last October, while Ford-brand trucks were up a significant 8 percent from year-ago levels.
Chrysler: October sales were up 27 percent compared to last October, and Chrysler says it was the best October since 2007. The redesigned Compass sold 5,179 units, and the refreshed Jeep Wrangler moved 9,892 units. The Chrysler brand itself was up 28 percent, buoyed by the Chrysler 200, and Ram-truck sales were up 21 percent. So far, 2011 CYTD sales are up 23 percent through October, compared to the same period in 2010.
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