Over the past two years, Ford has achieved significant improvements in vehicle quality, making its vehicles some of the best in the industry in terms of quality. Now that the domestic auto industry is in a slump, Ford isn’t taking any chances. The automaker has set an aggressive new target – best-in-class initial quality for compact cars the company will launch in North America by 2010.

“We aim to launch our new compact vehicles at 800 things gone wrong per 1,000 vehicles,” said Bennie Fowler, Ford’s group vice president, Global Quality. “That’s more than 500 TGWs less than the predicted industry average — and we believe these levels will ensure our upcoming small cars will achieve industry-best initial quality.”

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If you drive a 1995 Honda Civic, you better employ better anti-theft solutions because this popular model is America’s most stolen car for 2007, according to ‘Hot Wheels’, a report released by the National Insurance Crime Bureau based on information from the National Crime Information Center. The ’95 Civic is followed by another Honda model, the 1991 Honda Accord in the list.

The 1989 Toyota Camry was the third most stolen vehicle while the 1997 Ford F-150 was the highest-listed pickup truck as well as the most stolen domestic-branded vehicle. Other domestic models were the 1994 Chevrolet C/K 1500 and the 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup, all trucks. Rounding out the top ten perennial favorites of car thieves were the Acura Integra, Nissan Sentra, Toyota Pickup and the Toyota Corolla.

According to the NICB, the types of vehicles being stolen remain consistent year to year. Thieves continue to prey on these older vehicles because they provide the best market for stolen vehicle parts.

To protect your cars from thieves, NICB recommends a ‘layered approach’ by using simple, low-cost solutions to make vehicles less vulnerable to carjackers. These four layers are: common sense, a warning device, an immobilizing device and a tracking device. Common sense means locking the car and taking the keys with you.

Using a warning device or alarm is also an effective deterrent. The third layer encourages the use of an immobilizing device that will prevent the vehicle from being driven such as a smart key or fuel cut off. The fourth layer is the use of a tracking device that law enforcement officers can use to track and recover a stolen vehicle.

The Ford Motor Company sure is going to be reaping in more bucks as part of an agreement that it has took part in. This is possibly one of the largest agreements on export that the car maker has ever been in. According to a report, Ford would be exporting products that would amount to around $800 million. The lot of exported products would include auto products as well as transmission parts. These would be sent over to the Asian country of China.

Aside from the mentioned products, Ford would also be sending over 30,000 vehicles to China. These vehicles would be built in North America and then shipped to the mentioned country. All of these would be coming true by next year. Alan Mulally is the chief head for Ford and he said, “This historic export agreement with China is another step in our commitment to accelerate the development of new products that customers want and value and leverage Ford’s global assets.“

Around a week ago, the Ford Motor Company has announced that they would be opening the doors again of its facility located in Windsor, Ontario. This has been confirmed by Dalton McGuinty, the Ontario Premier, when he announced that he would also be present at the reopening of the plant and he would be with some of the company’s officials. No details were given however regarding the reopening of the Ford facility.

This Ford facility in Ontario, Canada is known as the Essex Engine Plant and the car maker has disclosed that the plant would now be responsible for the creation and manufacture of V8 engines which would be fuel efficient. The reopening would also bring in more jobs for people in the area.

Some sources have mentioned that the government of Ontario would be shelling out around $17 million to help Ford’s investment in the Essex Engine plant which amounts to $186 million. This however has yet to be confirmed.

It is now official.

In an announcement sent out by the Ford Motor Company, the auto industry has finally confirmed the completion of the purchase of Ford’s Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands. Tata Motors of India bought the two brands which are part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group (PAG). The announcement did disclose that Tata Motors would be purchasing the two brands for an estimated $2.3 billion.

On the deal, Ford’s CEO and president, Alan Mulally, mentioned that with Jaguar and Land Rover being good brands, the company is confident that both of them would be able to do well with Tata handling them. He also disclosed that the decision to sell both brands was actually part of the company’s goal which was to have a stronger and more focus-driven brand.

Gone were the days when we would all troop to our living rooms to watch ‘Knight Rider’ on our television sets. But one person can take home the vehicle used in the TV series when Ford puts two of these Knight Rider vehicles under the hammer.

Come March 29th, the Ford Motor Company would be bringing two KITT (Knight Industries 3000) Ford Shelby Mustang units used in the show ‘Knight Rider’. The vehicles would be put up for auction at the upcoming Barrett-Jack Collector Car Event which is in its sixth year already.

The KITT Ford Shelby Mustangs to be auctioned are actually products of the collaboration between Ford and NBC. They worked together to have a vehicle which would be used in the TV station’s TV series ‘Knight Rider’. The vehicles - the Super KITT and the Attack Mode KITT - would be put up for sale as a pair.

Jessie Vigil has a 2007 Ford Mustang. With a little tinkering and a good paint job, Vigil’s Mustang now has become a police car. The vehicle now is painted with black and white paint. It also has the emergency bar in red and blue at the top. Painted on the vehicle’s doors is the word “POLICE”.

According to Vigil, he decided to make his 2007 Ford Mustang look like Barricade in the Transformers movie because his son was so much into the film.

Vigil checked with authorities if painting his car to look like a police vehicle was illegal. He was given discouraging answers however there is not anything written down that says that doing such was illegal. There is a law that says people should not have cars that look like police cars but the state police can sell old vehicles to citizens who can let the cars stay as is. That is a gray area so Vigil decided to go for it. He was warned though that he would be meeting trouble if he would impersonate a police officer.

[Via AP]

If you are going to buy a new Ford Focus or a new Ford Mondeo, you would be delighted to find out that you would not need a key to open the door or even start the vehicle. The Ford Motor Company added a keyless entry system as well as a keyless ignition technology to the vehicles. When the driver pulls the vehicle’s door handle, the door automatically unlocks. To start the vehicle, with just one press of the Ford Power button, the engine roars to life.

Safety is not compromised though for the driver must carry with him a special transponder key. This would inform the car that you are the owner and it would open the doors once it recognizes the key’s signal.

One of the benefits of having a keyless entry system in your Ford Focus or Mondeo is not having to search through your bag, purse, or pocket to find your key. This means that you can rush to your car when it is raining and not have to fumble to open your car’s door.

For Volkswagen, a bumper sticker should say more than just a clever proverb or a humorous quip. Volkswagen’s Electronics Research Laboratory is developing a high-tech bumper sticker that will let drivers indicate their mood. The wafer-thin, highly-flexible programmable foil sticker will display text and images like a computer screen. It will continuously update what the driver’s emotional state is, so that the following drivers will know.

This shows how Volkswagen, as well as other automakers, is hard at work to improve communication between drivers. “You can let the traffic behind you know how you are feeling or say whatever you want to say as the mood takes you”, says VW’s ERL based in Palo Alto California. Other ideas on the drawing boards include an on-board heart rate monitor or other vital signs monitor that lets other drivers know the driver’s condition.

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There is a growing demand for PCs and Web Access on automobiles. Last September, a survey conducted by CNW Marketing Research revealed that 14% of prospective buyers under 30 years old would like to have in-car email and web access, a figure that double the number of people who said they wanted this feature back in 2004. Because of this demand, we will see more and more automobiles equipped with access to internet via an on-board PC.

Initially, these auto PCs will connect through regular cellular phone signals. However, the technology is expected to shift to WiMAX, a high-powered Wi-Fi that covers broadband access across urban areas. At present, Ford offers web access in its F-Series pickups through Fordlink, a $2,999 option. Meanwhile, KVH Industries features TracNet 100 system lets drivers view web pages on vehicle navigation and video screens. The TracNet 100 system equipment costs $2,000 while the monthly connection is $79.