Some of the new technologies Ford are looking to introduce with the Evos concept car are explained. Focusing on the networking cloud and how the car will communicate with the house and office to give the driver the best experience possible.

Following on from the success of the current Ford Focus, the updated model looks to maintain a winning formula by improving on fuel economy, styling and driving quality. The current Focus was extremely well received world-wide, so the new model has something to live up to.

Among the list of changes to the new model Focus is an improved streamlined shape and steeply raked windscreen. This has reduced drag and optimized the aerodynamics of the car as well as reduced wind noise and improved fuel efficiency. The stiffness of the body structure has also been improved which has lead to less noise and vibration when driving at high speeds as well as increased the body rigidity by 30%.

Inside the new Ford Focus, the driver is greeted by a cockpit style interior, with centre console allowing easy access to the cars major controls. There is a big emphasis on safety inside the new Focus, with airbags available for the driver and front passenger as well as side front airbags and side curtain airbags (only available in the Trend and Sport models) for the front and rear seat passengers.

The overall driving experience has also been improved through a number of advancements. The Focus’ cornering stability has been improved through the Torque Vectoring Control system, which constantly balances the torque distribution between the front wheels to reduce understeer. The suspension has been retuned and improved, with new designs being implemented for the Control Blade Independent rear suspension. Lastly there is a new Electric Power Assisted Steering system which has also been improved to increase steering response and precision at high speeds.

The fuel economy has also been improved along with an improvement in performance for the engine options available. There is a new 2.0 litre GDi (Gasoline Direct injection) petrol engine as well as a 2.0 litre Duratorq TDCi common rail turbo diesel engine, both engines are mated to the latest 6-speed PowerShift automated transmission. However the most impressive engine choice available with regards to fuel economy will be the 1.6 litre Duratec Ti-VCT engine, which has seen an impressive fuel reduction compared to the outgoing Focus 1.8 litre engine.

There will be 8 different models to choose from at launch, with 4 hatches and 4 sedans. Look for the new Ford Focus in South African dealerships soon.

Source: Ford

Chalk another one up for the list of special editions released recently, this time Ford bring us the Fiesta Sport Special Edition. The standard Fiesta has seen a massive amount of success in South Africa and Europe, so the sport special edition should fit in perfectly.

What’s special about the Fiesta Sport Special Edition? First up it comes with a number of 1.6 litre engine options, including a Duratec Ti-VCT petrol engine, with an output of 134PS at 6 700rpm and 160Nm of torque at 4 250rpm. This engine along with close-ratio gearing and a re-developed exhaust system allow the car to complete 0-100km/h in just 8.7 seconds and top off at 195km/h.

Style-wise, the Ford Fiesta Sport Special Edition comes with a full styling kit. The side skirts have been lowered, the front bumper and rear hatch now come with distinctive spoilers topped off by a silver-coloured front grille surround. There is also aerofoil, fog lamp bezels and twin exhausts. The alloy wheels are ‘Panther Black’ and are 17 inch on the petrol version and 16 inch on the TDCi versions. Inside there are ‘Ebony Black’ heated leather sports seats and a leather steering wheel with glossy black spokes as well as a number of other features.

The Ford Fiesta Sport Special Edition is currently available in Europe; we can only hope it will make it as a used car in South Africa at some point.

Source: Ford

Known as one of the fastest growing car manufacturers in China, Geely Holding Group have completed the acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation from Ford Motor Company.In an agreement that took more than a year; Geely now own 100% of Volvo and have also brought aboard Stefan Jacoby as the president and CEO of Volvo, who was previously at Volkswagen Group of America.

Regarding the costs of the acquisition, Geely reportedly had to fork out an impressive 1.8 billion U.S. dollars which includes a 200 million U.S dollars note with the balance paid in cash. Geely got the financing for this mammoth amount from Chinese institutions, it’s own balance sheet and international capital market resources.

Volvo Cars will still retain their headquarters and manufacturing presence in Sweden and Belgium. As can be expected, as part of the agreement Ford will remain a close component and supply partner with Volvo, this is to ensure that both parties still maintain the continuity of their vehicles.

The new CEO and president of Volvo Cars, Stefan Jacoby had this to say regarding the acquisition:

“I am honoured to join a company with the prestige and growth potential of Volvo. Our employees, suppliers, dealers – and above all our customers – can be confident that Volvo will preserve its special status as the industry leader in vehicle safety and innovation – even as it pursues new market opportunities.”

Source: Volvo

The Ford Figo has been doing extremely well in India since it’s release in March this year. Ford India’s sales figures for June increased by 267% compared to the same month in 2009. This was largely due to the Ford Figo who’s strong sales figures accounted for 24 000 vehicles sold since it’s release.

With the global trend of people wanting cars that are smaller, with better fuel economy and reduced CO2 emission levels, it’s no surprise that the response to the Ford Figo in India has been so strong. Ford India are shipping 1200 Figo models to South Africa in this shipment and are hoping to ship a total of 5000 Figo’s to South Africa by the end of the year. Ford expects the initial batch of 1200 Figo models to reach their 123 dealerships across South Africa by the middle of July.

The Ford Figo comes in a 1.4 petrol and diesel version.

Source: Ford

Ford have developed a new driver assistance system they are calling Curve Control and it aims to assist the driver with under-steer when cornering. The system has initially been implemented into the next generation Ford Explorer, which isn’t a vehicle we get in South Africa, but Ford do mention that they plan to fit Curve Control onto not just SUV’s but many of their car models as well in the future.

If a driver enters a turn too fast, Ford’s Curve Control system will automatically slow the vehicle down in 2 ways. First it will reduce the amount of torque to the engine and secondly it will automatically apply breaking to each of the wheels depending on how much is required, the system can apply all 4 wheel breaking if necessary.

The next obvious issue then is how does the system determine when and to what extent it will assist the driver. The system will use sensors that are the same used in the Roll Stability Control. These sensors will measure roll rate, yaw rate, lateral acceleration, wheel speeds and steering wheel angle.

The system uses the data taken from these sensors when the driver is taking a corner, it then determines if the car is turning the amount that the driver wants the vehicle to turn. If the answer is no, then the system kicks in and does something about it. Ford have tested this system while pulling a trailer and mention that it still works as intended.

Source: Ford

Ford have released details on the new Mondeo which is first going to be showcased at the Moscow Motor Show in August before going on sale later in 2010. As far as what has changed, the interior and exterior has been improved as well as the fuel consumption and the safety features.

Looks wise, the grille has been updated as well as the front bumper, which now includes LED day time running lights. The rear has also been updated to include LED lights. There are no major changes regarding the interior other than the center console, which includes the satellite navigation.

Under the hood the new Ford Mondeo will feature the higher performance 240 PS 2.0 liter Ford EcoBoost turbo-charged petrol engine. The big drawing point of this engine is that it provides up to 20% better fuel economy and reduces CO2 emissions also by 20% compared to traditional petrol engines around the same capacity.

Also on the list of improvements are some driver assistance features which include: Lane departure warning, Driver alter and Auto high beam. Another new feature added for the first time in the Mondeo is a Blind-Spot Information System, speed limiter and rear view camera.

Expect more details to be released in the next few months.

Source: Ford

The Ford Focus TDCI Powershift set a new fuel economy run record driving for an impressive 1432km on a single tank of fuel. The run was done in the Philippines during the Coast2Coast Challenge. During the run the Ford Focus set a fuel economy of 25.9km/liter. The drivers noted how much of a drastic effect that traffic and air conditioning had on their fuel economy.

The Ford Focus TDCI Powershift uses a Duratorq Turbo Direct Commonrail Injection (TDCI) engine as well as a 6 speed Powershift transmission. While the focus of the car is not necessarily speed, the Focus manages 0-100km/h in just 9.6 seconds. Powershift is a dual-clutch transmission that combines the ease of an automatic gearbox with the fuel efficiency of a many gearbox and enables smooth gear transitions.

Source: Ford.