When it comes to seat belts, Ford may have a better idea

Ford is introducing an inflatable seat belt for back seat passengers that it hopes will reduce injuries in front and side crashes.

The device will initially be available only as an option on the next-generation Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle, which goes into production next year. But safety experts say it has the potential to become widespread in the auto industry as car companies look for a marketing edge.

“The advancements in crash protection have focused a lot on front seat occupants, and this is a way to better protect rear seat occupants as well,” said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an insurer-funded group that advocates higher auto safety standards.

“Safety is now a huge part of the competitive marketplace, and automakers are using safety as a way to sell their vehicles and as a way to show that they are ahead of their competitors.”

According to Ford, the inflatable seat belts are more effective than conventional safety restraints at holding a rear passenger in place during a front or side collision.

Much like front-seat air bag, safety sensors measure the severity of a crash and quickly inflate the seat belts if needed. Each belt’s tubular air bag inflates with cold compressed gas, which flows through a specially designed buckle from a cylinder housed below the seat. (Watch a video of the system in action.)

Ford said that 90% of the research participants thought the new devices were more comfortable than traditional seat belts. The increased comfort level could help narrow the discrepancy between front and rear seat belt use. Only 61% of rear seat passengers routinely buckle up, compared with 82% of front seat occupants, according to federal safety data.

Volvo may be sold to Chinese automaker

Ford Motor Co. said a consortium led by Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. is the “preferred bidder” for Ford’s Volvo unit.

Ford said that no final decision had been made on a sale, but that it would be “engaging in more detailed and focused negotiations with Geely,” one of the 10 biggest automakers in China.

“Ford’s objective in our discussions with Geely is to secure an agreement that is in the best interests of all the parties,” said Lewis Booth, Ford’s chief financial officer.

“Any prospective sale would have to ensure that Volvo has the resources, including the capital investment, necessary to further strengthen the business and build its global franchise.”

Booth added that “there is much work that needs to be completed in the more substantive discussions that are agreed to take place. We have no specific timeline to conclude the discussions.”

A deal between Ford and Geely would be the latest in a series of moves by Chinese companies to invest in high-profile car brands.

Earlier this month, General Motors Co. reached an agreement to sell its Hummer SUV unit to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Group. That deal is awaiting regulatory approval by the U.S. and Chinese governments.

In addition, Swedish automaker Koenigsegg Automotive is buying GM’s Sweden-based Saab unit with the help of a Chinese partner.

Ford, based in Dearborn, Mich., said it would continue to cooperate with Volvo “in several areas” after a sale, but has no intention of retaining an ownership stake in the company.

Ford's stock was down 43 cents to $6.90 in late trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Ford commercials give center stage to Ford owners

As far as American automakers go, Ford seems to be our country’s darling at the moment. No surprise really - the company has, after all, effectively distanced itself from government bailouts. It’s also making smart decisions by producing better cars like the Fusion and bringing European favorites, such as the Transit Van and upcoming Fiesta, our way.

To highlight their latest and greatest products – as well as some established successes – Ford has produced 15-second commercial spots during which real drivers talk about their favorite parts of their Ford vehicle. Jonathan loves the SYNC system; Paul’s hands don’t smell like gasoline thanks to his Ford’s capless fuel filler.

Depicting real people -- real, young people, that is -- enjoying their cars makes a statement very different than what we’ve seen from General Motors. It’s a tactic that the company hopes will speak to Ford owners and in-market shoppers alike.

“We didn’t want to get bogged down in one message,” says Mark Schirmer of Ford Communications. "It was just about letting people talk about their car. It’s straightforward and honest.”

The quickie ads, already on YouTube, will air on television before and after main commercial segments starting Monday.

-- Alison Lakin

Alison Lakin is a staff writer at DriverSide.com.

With few new cars, Ford sells green image

In the auto business, there are few challenges tougher than marketing a brand that has few new cars to promote. No matter how good the current product, consumers like to see the latest stuff.

That's the conundrum at Ford Motor Co., which after a solid run of product launches now faces a roughly six month gap without a significant new rollout.

The last 12 months at the Blue Oval have been an advertiser's dream, with introductions of the Taurus full-size sedan, the Transit Connect van, the new Fusion and Mercury Milan mid-size sedans, the 2010 Mustang and the redesigned F-150 pickup.

The product barrage has helped Ford's sales fare far better than most other automakers in a tough economy, and its share of the U.S. market has grown to 14.7%, compared with 12.1% a year ago, according to Autodata Corp.

But with the exception of the commercially oriented Super Duty truck coming in March, Ford won't have a new car to crow about until the second quarter of next year, when the subcompact Fiesta arrives in the U.S., followed by Explorer and Focus launches later in the year.

For now, with competitors like Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Co. ramping up their advertising efforts with major campaigns in coming months, that means Ford has to get pretty creative when it comes to marketing in this dry season.

"We definitely have some space to fill," said Matt VanDyke, Ford's director of marketing communications.

He's overseeing the automaker's new advertising campaign, which begins Monday. An extension of the "Drive One" campaign, it will attempt to attract buyers without being able to rely on tried and true pictures of brand-new vehicles.

Instead, the automaker will focus its campaign on customers, with advertising that features real Ford drivers as well as digital forays into Facebook and the like. It will also strive to appeal to what could be the auto industry's most important stakeholder: the federal government.

Fear of parking -- yes, we're talking to you

For those of us who dread parallel parking  — I generally resort to the “touch” system, which basically involves backing up until you hit something — take comfort. We are not alone.

Parallel parking remains one of the most dreaded driving situations, with nearly one-third of U.S. drivers avoiding the procedure “as much as possible,” according to a recent online poll by Harris Interactive. Harris found that 22% of men and 35% of women avoid parallel parking “whenever possible.”

The poll was commissioned by Ford, which is flogging the “active park assist” feature offered on certain 2010 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. (Here’s a video of how Ford's radar-guided, automated parking system works.)

It’s no surprise that the poll found widespread parking dread — or that these findings happened to coincide with the fact that the company that commissioned the study happens to offer a product to ease that anxiety.

But there were a few gender-based findings that are worth noting.

About 43% of female drivers rated their parallel parking skills as “poor” or “fair,” compared with 21% of male drivers. On the other hand, 63% of male drivers surveyed rated women as “poor” or ”fair” parallel parkers, while only 25% of women gave men equivalent low marks.

Another intriguing statistic: 52% of U.S. drivers admitted to having parked and gotten out of the car, and then got back in to repark after realizing they had totally botched their first attempt. (That reminds me of that great scene in “Annie Hall” when Diane Keaton apologizes for her parking performance and Woody Allen replies: “That’s OK, I can walk to the curb from here.”)

And here’s a stat that may cause anxiety of a different sort for Ford, BMW, Lexus and other automakers that have rolled out park-assist features in recent years. Park-assist options ranked dead last in buyer interest among 19 automotive technologies, according to consumer surveys performed by J.D. Power & Associates. Fear of parking apparently doesn’t trump the price of these systems -- which can cost several hundred dollars. Although in fairness, it should be noted that the Harris survey did find what appears to be a higher level of buyer interest in the systems.

One last geographic nugget from the Harris survey: 35% of West Coast drivers rated themselves as lousy parallel parkers, while 74% of Northeasterners rated their parking skills as “good” or “excellent,” the highest of any region.

The only explanation I can think of for this disparity is that folks in the Northeast think “parallel parking” means knowing which side of a taxi to get out of.

-- Martin Zimmerman

Photo credit: Dan Neil / Los Angeles Times

Ford debuts new C-Max in Frankfurt, Grand C-Max coming to North America

Ford is going practical at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show, debuting not supercars, but rather superminis. Well, superminis in the plus-sized, butter-not-margarine North American market, at least. To Europeans, such cars are average-sized.

The new C-Max made its debut today in Frankfurt, Ford's minivan-esque hatch that slots neatly between the Focus and Mondeo in the automaker's European lineup.

The new C-Max will be available across the pond in two flavors -- the standard five-door hatch and longer wheelbase, sliding door-equipped Grand C-Max. So far, only the Grand C-Max has been confirmed for the North American market, arriving sometime in late 2011,according to Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president of global product development.

Expect the Grand C-Max to be powered by one of Ford's new Ecoboost four-cylinder turbocharged powerplants, which are being developed in 1.6- and 2.0-liter capacities. Look for the 2.0 to replace Ford's naturally aspirated V6 units in the next few years, while the 1.6 will take the place of current large capacity 1.4 engines. Ford is reporting fuel economy improvements of up to 20%.

Minivans have recently declined in popularity (implying that they were once popular) thanks to the rise of the crossover, but it's worth noting that the Mazda5 sold in huge numbers under Cash for Clunkers, driving availability down to its lowest point since the three-row hauler's debut. It would seem Ford wants a piece of the pie.

--Brian Alexander is a staff writer at DriverSide.com

Photo: Ford Grand C-Max. Credit: Ford

'And the teen shall inherit the SUV'

One of the time-honored ways that a young driver gets his or her first set of wheels is when their parents decide not to trade in the old car and give it to the young kid instead. With the flood of SUVs on the market over the last 20 years, many of those vehicles now park at the high school instead of the office. But what is an easy way to get Jason and Jennifer their wheels may spell more accidents, according to an article by Abraham Sauer on theawl.com. 

Sauer backs up his thesis with a truckload of statistics. Price is the deciding factor in the majority of teen car purchases. Right now within three miles of here, there are a half dozen mid-1990s SUVs for sale for under $4,000. Add the uniquely challenging driving characteristics of these vehicles, the poor track record for teen drivers in general and the prospects don’t look good. The only bright point is that most of the 'cars for clunker' trade-ins are SUVs. This may be the silver lining in what looks like a future of teen SUV-driving danger.

Factor in texting while driving (not confined to teens alone, certainly), the passenger capacity and the numbers of young drivers who don’t wear seat belts, and you get a recipe for highway disaster. 

-- Doug Stewart

Photo: 1991 Ford Explorer

Photo credit: Ford

Ford gives update on upcoming four-cylinder EcoBoost

Though dual-clutch automatic transmissions and high-output, turbocharged engines have come to the forefront across the pond in efficiency-conscious Europe of late, the fad hasn’t quite caught on over here in torque converter-loving North America. But according to a presentation we were given last week in Dearborn, Mich., Ford is looking to implement similar drivetrain technologies in the domestic market and will introduce a new 2.0-liter turbocharged engine and dual-clutch gearbox as early as 2010. In the world of automotive manufacturing, that's just around the corner.

Though this was far from the first we’ve heard of the upcoming 2.0-liter, four-cylinder mill, it was the first time we were given concrete output numbers. And impressed we were, as the new engine will have an estimated output of 230 horsepower and 240 lb.-ft. of torque, thanks not only to the turbocharger but also to twin independent variable cam timing. Big numbers, those.

Ford is looking to make EcoBoost engines available on more than 90% of its fleet by 2013. We were told the 3.5-liter V6 currently offered in numerous vehicles will soon be making its way into the F-150 lineup, but when asked how the high-output 2.0-liter might fare in Ford’s iconic hauler, the engineers answered with a terse yet effective “no.”

A new dual-clutch gearbox is also on its way, and according to Ford engineers, it will be a dry-clutch setup. The elimination of hydraulic fluid from the transmission increases efficiency and reduces the unit’s overall weight. Sticking with Ford's new vernacular of smashing two words into one, the new transmission, dubbed PowerShift, is currently available on some products in Europe. Expect to hear more in the coming months.

-- Brian Alexander

Brian Alexander is a staff writer at DriverSide.com

Photo: Ford Motor Co.

The Transit Connect: Ford's Euro answer to an American small-business problem

Small business owners have a lot on their minds right now. The economic situation and the newest rehash of the national Medicare bill are whipped cream and cherry toppings for any new entrepreneur’s stress sundae. Ford thinks it’s got a little help coming, though, in the form of its new Transit Connect.

As part of Ford’s new "Check out all this cool stuff we’ve been selling to Europeans for years" campaign, the Transit Connect has been available in foreign markets since 2002.

Before we get to the van itself, we need to address the bear in the room: Small businesses, like just about everyone else the world right now, are feeling the wrath of the almighty economy. People are cutting costs left and right, and now might not seem the time to buy new vehicles. When it comes to timing, though, the Transit Connect has an ace up its sleeve.

Because the Transit Connect is equipped with the four-cylinder engine of the Focus, it achieves a very impressive 22 miles per gallon in the city and 25 on the highway. This means not only can businesses benefit from the lower running costs of the Transit Connect, but also that companies that use older, gas-guzzling vehicles can apply for the government’s "cash for clunkers" discounts.

O Canada! Ford's No. 1

Our neighbors to the north are known for their impeccable manners, searing slapshots and driveways filled with General Motors sedans with bench seats and snow tires.

Not anymore.

For the first time in more than half a century, Canadians bought more Fords than GM vehicles last month.

Despite a market as weak as the one the U.S. is enduring, Ford dealers moved 27,408 cars and light trucks in Canada in June, according to numbers released today. That's a 24.6% increase compared with June of last year, a truly shocking result considering what has been happening to the auto business.

Bankrupt GM, which has been the sales leader in Canada since time immemorial, saw its June sales in the Great White North drop 31% on a year-over-year basis to 22,334 units.

Chrysler, the other bankrupt U.S. automaker, meanwhile suffered an even greater decline, selling just 9,211 vehicles in Canada, a nearly 59% drop compared with last year. It blamed a company-wide production shutdown that limited inventories.