Get Ready for a New Built Tough Commercial: Firefighter Drives Off Heavily Wrecked Ford F-150

We promise to act utterly surprised when someone over at Ford accidentally discovers this video footage of a heavily damaged F-150 pickup truck driven over the rumbles of a destroyed showroom and turns it into a "Built Ford Tough" commercial.

The poster of the clip is an unnamed manager from the Kelleher Ford dealership located in the small Canadian town of Dauphin in the Province of Manitoba. According to the description, the incident took place after the dealership caught fire on September 10, 2011.

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MT Slams 2012 Ford Explorer 2.0L EcoBoost, Says it's Slow, Clumsy, Pricey and Thirsty

Now here's a review that is bound to get the conversation heated up. Motor Trend's senior editor, Jonny Lieberman of former Jalopnik, The Truth About Cars and Autoblog fame, tried out the new 2012 Ford Explorer with the 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four that produces 240-ponies. And well, let's just say he didn't like it one bit.

After testing the Explorer, Lieberman states, among other things, that the 2.0-liter model is "slow, clumsy, pricey, thirstier than we would have thought, and a packaging disaster".

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Ford in Talks with UAW About Adding 10,000 Jobs, Move Fusion Production from Mexico to the U.S.

The Ford group is currently negotiating a four-year contract with the UAW (United Auto Workers) union, which could add as many as 10,000 new jobs at its American factories.

Citing sources familiar with the issue, Bloomberg News reported that the job-discussion is part of the negotiations between the two parties that also include wages, benefits and employment status in the new contract.

Among the moves being considered, is shifting production of the Ford Fusion mid-size sedan from Mexico to the U.S.A., which could help in the creation of nearly 4,000 new jobs alone.

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Ford Updates F-150 for the 2012 Model Year with New Equipment and Styling Package

The most popular truck in Ford's range, the F-150, is entering the 2012 model year with a few mild upgrades concentrated on fine-tuning the driveline and improving the equipment packages.

Under the sheetmetal, Ford replaced last year’s electronic shift-on-the-fly with a an enhanced two-speed automatic 4x4 system that gains a 4x4 auto mode for Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum trim levels. Across the range, there's a new standard Hill Start Assist feature that prevents the truck from rolling backward at a stop.

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Ford Mondeo ECOnetic Travels 2,161 km [1,344 miles] on One Tank of Fuel

Ford is heavily promoting its ECOnetic technology, which promises extremely low fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. With the official help of Ford, two Norwegians, Knut Withil and Henrik Borchgervink set out to prove that the technology delivers what it promises.

They took a bog-standard Ford Mondeo wagon 1.6-liter diesel ECOnetic, filled up the fuel tank with 70 liters of diesel and started their quest to find out how far it would take them.

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Found For Sale: Cool 1965 Ford Mustang Shooting Brake

Like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, the Ford Mustang Station Wagon is an elusive beast often spoken of but rarely seen.

The story goes that J. Walter Thompson advertising executive Barney Clark and designer Bob Cumberford commission the Italian coachbuilding firm Intermeccanica to build a one-off shooting brake in 1965. Heck, it even appeared on the cover of the October 1966 issue of Car and Driver.

This is not that car, but a very nice replica by a man named Joe Kamp. Based on a 1965 Ford Mustang hardtop, Mr. Kamp cut, lengthened and widened the roof to make the distinctive shooting brake rear end.

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Project Kahn Turns its Focus on the RS

Aftermarket British tuner Project Kahn has released a mild upgrade package for the now obsolete Ford Focus RS. The company left the hot hatch's 305HP-strong 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-five intact, and concentrated on the styling aspect of the tune. Read more »

Ford Says it's Considering Building Electric Cars and Selling Lincolns in China

Ford Motor Company’s CEO, Allan Mulally, recently told Bloomberg Television that his company might build electric cars with its partner in China while the automaker is also looking to introduce the Lincoln brand into the market.

“As we move towards electrification, you’re going to see more hybrids, plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars”, said Mulally while on a trip to Chongqing, China, for the founding of a new transmission plant in partnership with Changan Automobile Group.

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Another Day, Another Shade for Ford's Transit SportVan Limited Edition

Like clockwork, Ford of Britain has just unveiled another version of its special edition Transit SportVan, this time 180 examples if the commercial model finished in a new livery with metallic silver bodywork and graphite racing stripes.

Color is the only differentiating factor among the previous versions of the Transit SportVan, which was first launched in 2007.

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Polk Says 2011 Non-Dedicated Hybrid Model Sales Down 1.5% Versus 2010

With the notable exceptions of the Chevy Volt, Toyota Prius and Honda Insight, most of the hybrids on sale today are merely spin-offs of existing ICE models with gas / electric powertrains fitted; take the hybridized Chevy Tahoe, Toyota Camry and Honda Civic for instance.

According to automotive statistics website Polk online, in the first seven months of 2011, sales of non-dedicated hybrid models dipped 1.5% compared to last year. Analyst Tom Libby blames the sales slump on the lack of distinct styling; hybrid buyers want their cars to stand out from the crowd.

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Study Shows that New Porsche 911 Garnered the Most Web Buzz from the Frankfurt Motor Show

Now that the 2011 International Auto Show in Frankfurt has passed into history, analysts are crunching the numbers to see which carmakers and models sparked the crowd's interest the most.

UK-based Kantar Media Precis released the results of a study that looks into the number of online stories from websites, Tweets, blogs and other social media starting from two weeks before the first press day of the Frankfurt Motor Show on Aug. 30, 2011, until the end of the second press day on Sept. 14, 2011.

The study reveals that the most talked about model on the internet was the new Porsche 911 sports coupe, while next up was the Mercedes-Benz B Class small MPV, followed by the BMW i3 Concept hatch, the Audi Urban Concept studies and the Ford Evos Concept.

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Ford Adds New Metal Special Edition with 134HP to Fiesta's Range in the UK

Looking for a more special Fiesta supermini? Ford has you covered in the United Kingdom with the launch of yet another limited edition model, called the Fiesta Metal of which only 1,000 examples will be built.

The new car is based on the three-door variant and is powered by a 1.6-liter Duratec petrol engine that generates 134-horses at 6,700rpm and 160Nm (118 lb-ft) of torque at 4,250rpm allowing it to complete the 0-62mph (100km/h) sprint in 8.7 seconds.

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Awesom-o: Ford Builds Life-Size 2012 Explorer Replica from LEGO Bricks [with Video]

We have seen LEGO bricks used to craft just about anything one can imagine but we never cease to be amazed when somebody goes over the top to construct a freakishly big design.

Case in point, a full-size replica of Ford's 2012 Explorer built almost entirely from LEGO bricks, which was made to mark the beginning of a new long-term alliance between Ford and the LEGOLAND Florida theme park.

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SCOOP: We Snag 2012 Ford B-MAX Small MPV's Interior

As Ford continues to test the upcoming 2012 B-MAX small MPV, our spies are getting closer to the prototype models revealing more details about the company's Honda Jazz/Fit and Citroen C3 Picasso rival.

This time, they were able to snap a photo of the car's interior confirming our hypothesis that only a few minor things will change over the concept model we first saw at the Geneva Salon earlier this year.

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Ford Mondeo 2.0-liter EcoBoost 203HP & 240HP to be Available with Six-Speed Manual Gearbox

The top-of-the-line Mondeo editions Titanium and Titanium S, which are powered by Ford's 2.0-liter turbocharged EcoBoost engine, will soon be available with a six-speed manual gearbox in addition to the dual-clutch PowerShift transmission. Read more »

Ford Develops a Nifty Pop-Up Door Edge Protector that will Debut on the Focus

How many times have you hit your vehicle's doors on an adjacent car or a wall? The answer is probably one too many dings and scratches to remember. Of course, the aftermarket industry offers various solutions like vertical door protector strips, but add-ons will always be add-ons with undesirable aesthetic results.

In a rare moment of Zen, Ford has come up with a clever and fully functional feature that protects the doors without ruining the appearance of your car. Aptly named Door Edge Protector, the system was designed by Ford engineers in Cologne, Germany.

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Ford Police Interceptors Reporting For Duty in Michigan

Michigan outlaws beware: State Police is getting ready to add another weapon in its armory, or rather two: the Ford Taurus Police Interceptor Sedan and the Explorer Police Interceptor Utility, which today passed the two-day State Police tests and are ready to enter service.

Although the Taurus Interceptor was tested just as thoroughly, it was the Explorer SUV Utility version that received most of the attention.

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SCOOP: New Ford Mondeo Prototype Spotted Out in the Open, will Replace the U.S. Fusion as Well

Our spy photographers captured a development prototype of Ford's new global mid-size sedan sporting a modified platform but with most body parts sourced from the current Mondeo saloon, during testing in Europe.

In the likes of the latest Fiesta and more recently, the new Focus that are available in more or less the same form worldwide, the next generation of the Mondeo will serve as truly global model for Ford in the popular mid-size segment.

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IAA 2011: Ford's Pure Electric E-Bike Concept

Lost somewhere between the world premieres of the production 2012 Focus ST and the conceptual Fiesta ST and EVOS at Ford's Frankfurt Motor Show gig, is the E-Bike Concept that was created to demonstrate how the company's design language can translate into a bicycle.

The pure electric bicycle was developed by a Ford Design team headed by Executive Design Director Martin Smith, in partnership with cyber-Wear, the German brand behind the automaker's lifestyle collection products.

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Ford Says New 2014 Mustang will be Less Retro, More Modern

In 2014, Ford will celebrate the Mustang’s 50th anniversary and it will do so by launching a brand new model. The revelation comes from the company’s design chief, J Mays, who spoke to journalist during the 64th International Auto Show in Frankfurt.

According to Mays, the design of the next-generation Mustang has already “locked down” three years ahead of its launch. The real surprise, though, is that Mays states that the new version of Ford’s iconic pony car will look more into the future than in to its past.

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