Sandy Hits East Coast Car Sales, Lowers October’s SAAR By Nearly a Million Units

Not that there’s ever a “good” timing for a natural disaster, but for East Coast new car dealers, especially those in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, traditionally very big markets for light vehicles, hurricane Sandy had a devastating effect as far as sales are concerned.

That’s because, apart from any damages dealers suffered, they also had to shut down their showrooms at the end of October, when their daily sales are at their peak.

Moreover, deliveries scheduled for early November are likely to be affected, though dealers are expected to make at least part of that up by buyers seeking replacements for their totaled cars.

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BMW Group and Toyota to Each Donate $1 Million for Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts

With a simple press statement, the North American division of the BMW Group announced that it will donate the amount of $1 million to million to the American Red Cross for disaster relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

"This donation will help the Red Cross give aid to the many who are in need in the affected areas," said Ludwig Willisch, CEO and President, BMW of North America.

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Mine's Bigger Than Yours: Ford Brags About the C-MAX Hybrid Outselling the Toyota Prius v

There's no end in sight to Ford's war of words against Toyota and its Prius family of hybrid models. Adding to a long list of press releases and statements targeting the Japanese brand's hybrid models, Ford came out with a new announcement today saying the 47mpg C-MAX Hybrid outsold the Prius v minivan in its first full sales month. Read more »

12-Year Old Ohio Boy Steals Three Cars in One Day, Leads Cops on a Wild Chase

Some kids like to play cops and robbers with their friends, usually on their computers, but one youngster from Ohio had different plans, as the 12-year old wanted to try a real life version of the game.

The unnamed boy, who according to his father, had been watching online videos of police chases the previous night, woke up the next morning and drove off with his parents' Chevrolet van, but he didn’t stop there.

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Ford Australia Strikes Again with Ranger Pickup Truck-Based Torque Transformer

After doing it the first time with the Falcatron and seeing all the attention it received from the automotive and gaming worlds alike, Ford's Australian subsidiary and High Moon Studios, the developer behind the "Transformers: Fall of Cybertron" video game, came together to create another Ford-based Autobot.

The new character is named Torque and is spun off the new generation of Ford's compact pickup truck, the Ranger in Wildtrak specification, which is not available for the North American market.

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U Spy: Reader Spots a Bunch of Ford Prototypes Including New Ranger and Strange Mustang

Recently, CarScoop reader Anrev stumbled upon an unusually large gathering of Ford prototype models in Denver, Colorado, some of which were in full camouflage while others sported strange features that caught his, and ultimately, our attention as well.

Anrev explains what he saw and snapped with his camera:

"The Ford Test mule fleet is in Denver. Mustangs, Fusion, Fiesta, Ecosport with Japanese emblems, F150, Mondeo, Ranger and 2 other cars that are heavily padded and were covered. One was the size of the ecosport but more boxy. The other was the size of the Mustang but had a sharper nose and longer back roof line.

He continued: "The engineer that asked me to stop taking pics said they were in town for a few days. He started the Mustang while I was there and gave it a little gas. It may have SAID 5.0 on the side. But there's no way it was. Sounded like a V6."

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Ford and Its Dealers Offering $500 Cash Savings to New Cars Buyers Affected by Sandy

Only hours after Nissan and Infiniti announced that they are offering employee pricing and discounted financing to consumers impacted by the storm, Ford Motor Company came out with its own contribution. Read more »

New Ford Mustang Cobra Jet Concept Sports Twin-Turbo 5.0-liter EcoBoost V8 [w/Video]

There's a new racier pony car making its debut at Sin City's SEMA Show and it's called the Mustang Cobra Jet Concept.

It's a prototype version of Ford's factory-built turnkey drag racer that replaces the 2013 Mustang Cobra Jet's 5.0-liter V8 unit that's available with or without a supercharger with a new iteration of the V8 featuring a pair of turbochargers incorporating the brand's EcoBoost technologies.

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Ford Makes a $1.6 billion Q3 Profit Despite Mounting Loses in Europe

The Blue Oval posted its third quarter results on Tuesday reporting a net income of $1.6 billion or 40 cents per share, which is about the same as the third quarter 2011. Ford has been recording a pre-tax profit for 13 consecutive quarters. Read more »

Ford Comes in Second Last in Consumer Reports’ 2012 Auto Reliability Survey [w/Video]

Two years ago, Ford was included in the Top 10 of Consumer Reports’ (CR) annual reliability survey, with more than 90 percent of its range rated average or better.

In the 2012 survey, however, you’ll have to look a long way down to find the Blue Oval: it occupies the next-to-last place as it finished 27th out of 28 brands rated, and its Lincoln luxury division is just one place ahead.

"Ford's bumpy road can be seen in the numbers. Sixty percent of Ford-branded models and half of Lincolns were below average in predicted reliability and none placed above average," said Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports.

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Pfff…Ford Redoes 2013 Focus ST vs. VW Golf GTI Video, Takes Gittin Jr.'s Mustang Out of the Picture…

It has been almost two months since Ford published the third episode of its "Focus ST Sessions" web on August 29, only to remove the video a few hours later, without ever explaining why it did so.

Now we see that the Blue Oval has re-launched the clip under the new title "(Abandoned) Block Party", again featuring the Focus ST versus the VW Golf GTI Mk6 with professional drivers Ken Block and Vaughn Gittin Jr. taking the wheel. Obviously, you will be wondering if Ford changed anything in the latest clip.

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Ford Now Offering Reproduction of its 1940 Coupe's Steel Body Shell

Much in the same way as it offers reproductions parts for the 1965-70 Mustang bodies, the Blue Oval is now venturing further into the past with the release of a full body shell of the 1940 Ford Coupe, a favorite among hot rod builders.

"The 1940 Ford Coupe has always been highly sought after and collectible," says Dennis Mondrach, Ford Restoration Parts licensing manager. "Unfortunately, good, solid restorable examples have become hard to find and expensive, so this faithful reproduction is bound to prove popular."

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Ford Previews Six 2013 Mustang SEMA Show Builds

It’s no secret that the Mustang along with GM's rivaling Chevrolet Camaro are two of the most popular cars at the SEMA aftermarket show and that both will be…exhaustively represented at this year's edition of the Las Vegas event.

There will be plenty more to see, but Ford has shared sketches of six 2013 Mustang project cars it has been working on together with select partners, including M2-Motoring, 3dCarbon, Ringbrothers, Stitchcraft, DSO Eyewear and a collaboration between Mothers, Autosport Dynamics and RTR.

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New Ford Focus ST Hits it Off with a VW Scirocco R on a Hill Climb

The conversation in this video may sound Greek to you, but that’s only because…it is Greek. Apart from an exorbitant debt, which may or may not kick started the Eurozone crisis that's knocking even on Germany's door, the Mediterranean country has quite a lot of mountains, too.

Its new car market may have sunk near the bottom of the Marianas Trench and fast cars are naturally not a priority for a large part of the population, but this doesn’t mean that car nuts or motoring journalists have vanished from the country.

Local publication Drive has taken advantage of one of those mountain passes to stage a hill climb fight between a pair of front-wheel drive hot hatches powered by 2.0-liter turbocharged engines separated by just 15HP.

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Ford's European Restructuring Plan Leads to the Closure of Two UK Facilities, Mondeo Delayed

After announcing plans to shut down its Genk factory in Belgium at the end of 2014, Ford came out today with new details about its European restructuring efforts that include the closure of two more plants, the allocation of production, the loss of up to 6,200 jobs and other actions to increase cost efficiencies.

The announcements come against the backdrop of the persisting economic crisis in Europe with Ford estimating its loses in the region for the full year 2012 to exceed $1.5 billion (€1.15 billion).

The two additional factories receiving the axe are the Southampton Transit van plant, which is Ford's last vehicle-making facility in the United Kingdom, and its stamping and tooling operations in Dagenham, again in England.

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CarScoop Exclusive: The All-New 2015 Ford Mustang Precisely Imagined

As mentioned in our recent 'The New Faces of CarScoop's 2015 Mustang' article, we have been working hard over the past few weeks to give you the most accurate look of the 2015 Mustang yet.

Hours upon hours have been consumed in getting the look as close to the real thing as possible via feedback and our own extensive investigation, and now, we can finally show you the next generation of pony car. Make no mistake; this isn't our view of the next Mustang, but how Ford's designers are actually imagining the car to look like.

The Mustang has been Ford's halo car since 1964, and the 2015MY 'Stang is expected to emerge from the stables in time for its 50th birthday. This nameplate is one of the longest running in Ford's automotive history - and that's something you do not want to mess up. Bearing this in mind, taking on the challenge of rendering the actual 2015 version was hugely exciting.

Working closely with our own sources as well as gathering all the extra information we could, including from a Ford forum thread that concerned a recent consumer clinic about the next Mustang (and which by the way, has since been shut down…), we created these renderings. The car in question has been designed in GT trim, so one can expect even wilder versions like the Boss 302, CS, and GT500 down the track.

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Ford C-MAX Energi PHEV Gets Access to California HOV Lanes, up to $5,250 in Incentives

California’s Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board (CARB) announced that Ford’s C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid MPV has been approved for the Green Clean Air Vehicle Sticker, which gives it access to the state’s much-coveted High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes. Read more »

Holy Flabbergast! German Batmobile Begs for a Bat…Repellent

Not all Batmobiles are made equal and this principle surely applies to the Bat car listed for sale on the German version of eBay.

The pictures of the DIY Batmobile more or less speak for themselves with the seller adding that a "very extravagant and futuristic artist and designer" built the strange looking contraption, and that it has won "several trophies at events".

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Ford to Shut Down its Genk Plant in Belgium, Reshuffle European Production Operations

On account of reduced demand and uncertain market prospects throughout Europe, Ford has decided to close down its underutilized Genk Plant in Belgium and to cease vehicle production by the end of 2014, which will lead to the loss of 4,300 jobs.

Ford, which is estimated to burn through more than $1billion this year in Europe, said that the move is part of a broader plan to restructure its local operations and help to address overcapacity issues curtailing from a more than 20 percent drop in total industry vehicle demand in Western Europe since 2007.

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Ford Prepares Focus ST Wagon Interceptor for UK Police Force

Having prepared UK cops through the big screen and the use of a new Focus ST hatchback as the unmarked car of Flying Squad detectives Regan and Carter in the crime thriller "The Sweeney", Ford is now catering to the needs of real-life police with the unveiling of a patrol package for the Focus ST Wagon. Read more »