Sunset Ford Dealer Blog

Hypermiling is a term used to describe practices that save gas. Many of these techniques are inconvenient and, at times, even impossible. But some of these techniques are showing up in one of the most unusual places – the NASCAR track.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. recently won the race at the Michigan International Speedway. During the race, he used one common hypermiling technique - coasting. This was most noticeable because he drove for the last 110 miles, or 55 laps around the track, without refueling. The last time he stopped, his pit crew told him he should refuel when he had about six laps left to go. But Earnhardt was able to avoid one last fueling stop by allowing his car to coast when the caution flag was out.

As an even bigger surprise, he coasted across the finish line. Apparently, he was basically running on fumes because his car ran out of gas just a few seconds afterwards. Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t had a NASCAR victory since May 6, 2006.

But Earnhardt isn’t the only one on the circuit who is trying to drive more responsibly with regards to the environment. “Everybody’s doing it,” he said in an interview with ESPN.

If you’re driving one of the many Ford cars on the market today, you can employ hypermiling in your daily habits, too. If it’s good enough for NASCAR drivers, it’s certainly good enough for you!

Even though the Ford F150 hasn’t been performing like it once did in the way of sales, the automaker isn’t turning its back on it. Despite the high gas prices, these Ford trucks are still in high demand and they likely will be for many years to come.

Mark Fields, President of the Americas, said that large pickup trucks are “still one of the biggest segments of the industry.” Since there is still a demand for these full-size trucks, he said the Ford Motor Company will “continue to focus on the products that made us leaders.”

In order to match the falling demand, though, Ford decreased production of the F150 and other full-size trucks and SUVs in March. That’s when gas prices started hovering around $4 a gallon and drivers began to worry. But the F150 continues to outsell other trucks in the industry like it has been for more than 30 years.

In fact, the F150 was even the best-selling vehicle in the United States since June of 2005. It held the top spot until last month when sales fell by nearly 20 percent. But Ford isn’t worried. “Our philosophy is to be competitive but not excessive,” Fields said about the situation. As a result, the automaker isn’t going to overreact and offer huge discounts just for the sake of reducing the inventory on the lots. Instead, Ford is working on a smaller, more efficient version of the F150 for release in 2011.

It’s just one more way Ford continues to be a competitive force to reckon with in the automotive industry.

You might notice a new feature in Ford cars soon. The Ford Motor Company recently received support from the national Emergency Number Association (NENA) to offer a 911 Assist feature in combination with its SYNC system. Here are some things you can expect from the new emergency feature:

• When the airbags are deployed in a SYNC-equipped vehicle, the 911 Assist feature connects the driver and passengers with local emergency services automatically.
• The 911 Assist feature is not subscription based, meaning you can use it as long as you have the SYNC system installed in your Ford car.
• This emergency feature is launching later this year.
• The Ford Motor Company is working with NENA to train and educate operators so they can properly and effectively use the system when it’s needed the most.
• The SYNC 911 Assist system is updatable. That means when updates are available, you’re eligible to have your system updated as long as you own a 2008 or 2009 SYNC-equipped vehicle.

Ford is proud to be working with NENA on this venture. According to Doug VanDagens, Ford’s director of Connected Services Solutions, the automaker “believed it was important to work with such an organization to ensure that emergency personnel across the country learn what to expect from 911 Assist.” And since the service is non-subscription based, Ford becomes the leader in accident-assistance features.

With features like this, is it any wonder that Ford is back on top of the automotive industry?

There’s a new lifesaving feature coming to Ford cars in the near future – crash avoidance technology. The Ford Motor Company has been working closely with the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop this feature in another concerted effort to keep people safer on the roads. So far, here are the two major components of the technology:

Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication
The main aspect of this crash avoidance technology allows vehicles to communicate with each other on the roads. Imagine driving down the highway at 80 mph and the driver in the car three cars ahead of you hits their brakes. That car can communicate with the cars behind it so those cars can alert their drivers to slow down in time to avoid an accident. In emergency instances, the car can even do automatic braking.

Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System
When you’re approaching an intersection, this feature will send messages to your car from the traffic light. The message will include the amount of time you have before the light changes and if any other cars are approaching the intersection. The vehicle then uses this information to decide if the driver needs a warning. It can also initiate the brake assist system as well for extra safety.

In addition to these vehicle features, Ford and other automakers are working on a wireless infrastructure so vehicles can communicate with traffic lights, lane markers and other road features that you encounter when you drive. The U.S. Department of Transportation is funding roadside infrastructure features. The department has also proposed installing 250,000 transceivers throughout the nation no later than 2010.

It looks like the future is now and Ford is triumphantly leading us into it.

Have you ever heard of a self-driving car? I’ve heard of a self-parking car, but this takes the idea to a whole other level.

You probably won’t see a large number of self-driving vehicles on the road for at least another decade or so. But think of how much fun you can have with one of these on a closed course! The company that made it – Torc Technologies – has already worked on a similar model with Virginia Tech. They recently started selling a self-driving version of this model earlier this month. It sells for about $90,000 right now. That seems rather pricey for a car that you can only drive on a closed course.

The auto industry is moving closer and closer to adopting self-driving technologies. I’ve already mentioned the self-parking technology, but more and more cars have features like crash avoidance technology and pedestrian awareness. One company even has a feature called “lane departure control” which makes the car stay in the lane that it’s in. If it veers from its lane, it uses the brakes to “kick itself back on course,” according to Car and Driver magazine.

Torc Technologies is also working on a self-driving technology for the military. In addition, the company has also created a feature called SafeStop, an emergency system that stops unmanned vehicles so they can get out of trouble.

You probably won’t see these features at your local dealer any time soon. But since Torc Technologies created the vehicle on an Escape hybrid, you’ll probably see these features built into Ford trucks before any other brand. It’s just another way Ford is leading the industry in innovations.

Replace this with first Ford Focus article. Post one such article to per week to this channel.

The Senator of Minnesota, Norm Coleman, is trying to save the Ford Ranger. Since his state is home to the plant that makes these popular Ford trucks, he’s making every effort to convince the automaker to continue production.

Due to high gas prices, Ford recently announced that it was going to retool some truck plants and turn them into factories that make smaller cars. But Coleman wrote a letter to Ford CEO Alan Mulally asking him to reconsider the Twin Cities Ford Assembly Plant. In the letter, he cited the fact that sales of the Ford Ranger have increased since the beginning of the year. And with more than 1,000 highly skilled employees working at the Twin Cities plant, he explained this continues to be the best place to make the Ranger as people still want small, fuel-efficient trucks.

“I have long said that the St. Paul plant could play a key role in helping lead Ford into the future,” Coleman stated in the letter. “Since 1925,” he continued, “the St. Paul plant has been a source of good paying jobs, and I look forward to meeting with Ford officials to discuss its prospects for continued production.” You can read the full text of the letter here.

In addition to the letter, Coleman is planning a trip to Ford headquarters in Dearborn to meet with the automaker’s officials. How many senators actually go the extra mile like that to save jobs. If I lived in Minnesota, he’d definitely have my vote.

In a recent video question and answer interview, Alan Mulally, Ford’s CEO, discussed the role of the compact car and SUV market in America’s future. Here are a few highlights of that interview.

The most important thing Mulally said that compact cars aren’t going anywhere soon. With more Americans switching to smaller Ford cars, he said the automaker is switching its resources to accommodate that demand. He also believes that SUVs will continue to fall in demand as long as gas prices stay as high as they are. Mulally also felt that the demand for SUVs probably won’t increase the same way the demand for larger cars increased following a similar fuel crisis in the 1970s.

During the first quarter of 2008, sales for small, fuel-efficient cars increased by more than 30 percent. As if that figure isn’t staggering enough, the auto market as a whole experienced a sales decline of eight percent overall. Sales of midsize cars stayed about the same as they were last year.

But Mulally also implied that Ford is taking a small gamble on the oil industry. With all of the changes the automaker is making to increase production of smaller cars, it’s almost imperative that fuel prices stay where they are at to make the switchover worth the trouble.

Either way, you the driver can benefit from these new moves. If gas prices stay where they are, you can get a compact Ford car with great gas mileage to save money at the pump. If gas prices go back down, you’ll be spending even less with every mile you drive. It’s a win-win situation for everybody involved.

In an effort to stay current with the demands and needs of its customer base, the Ford Motor Company is retooling some of its truck plants. Instead of building Ford trucks, some of the current factories are switching over to build Ford cars.

The announcement comes just a couple weeks after the national average price for gas reached $4 a gallon. With those prices, fewer people are looking for big trucks right now.

A Ford spokesperson declined any comment on the rumors that some truck plants are retooling. But an emergency meeting with plant managers and local union leaders lead one to believe the rumors. After all, it’s not that unlikely.

Not all truck plants would be affected, though. Only some of the American plants will be revamped to produce some vehicles that are currently exclusive to European factories. That’s where compact and smaller cars are abundant on the roads.

Ford said the company would announce its official plans sometime in July. Whatever happens, you can rest assured knowing you can always get a great deal on a Ford pickup truck or SUV. In fact, with fewer people buying them right now, it might be the perfect time. Visit a local dealer today and see how much you can save on your favorite full-sized vehicle.

Yesterday, we learned about Jay Klehfoth, a man who loves his four (yes, count them) Model Ts. We also mentioned the upcoming celebration on July 20 that focuses on these immortalized Ford cars. Here is some more information about that celebration and a little more about Klehfoth himself.

The Model T celebration is a week-long event that takes place in Richmond, Indiana. It usually attracts about 1,000 of these classic cars. Some of the Model Ts are coming all the way from Australia and other far off regions. Klehfoth is hoping that his efforts will put this year’s celebration in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the “longest single-model car line.”

In addition to having hundreds of Model Ts in Richmond, you’ll also see an airplane show with planes from the 1930s. Have you ever seen an old-fashioned baseball game? You will if you attend the July celebration. You can also watch other events that will make you think you’ve been transported to a simpler time in our history and culture.

That’s one of the allures for the Model T. According to Klehfoth, the “world looks a lot different at 25 mph in the open air.” With a slower moving vehicle, you can “stop and smell the roses,” so to speak instead of driving by at 75 or 80 mph. That’s why Klehfoth often takes neighborhood kids for a ride in one of his Model Ts. It gives them a chance to see what cars were once like and, to some degree, how life was much simpler then. He hopes his children and other younger generations will continue the Model T celebration for many years to come. Henry Ford would certainly be proud, wouldn’t he?