2014 Ford F150 Fx4 on 2040-cars

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Ford blamed in drug mule lawsuit

If a college student is caught smuggling drugs across the border, one might think the kid got what was coming to him. But when a Mexican student at the University of Texas in El Paso was caught by Border Patrol agents with duffel bags filled with marijuana in his trunk, the man used a classic excuse: He claimed they weren't his.
While a claim like that is almost unbelievable, Ricardo Magallanes, the student, is now suing Ford for handling its vehicles' key codes negligently enough to allow drug smugglers to break into his Ford Focus and stash the drugs, The Daily Caller reports. The twist here is that four other people who lived in Juarez and worked in El Paso were involved in the same type of scheme - allegedly unwittingly, just like Magallanes - and all the cars were Fords except one model from General Motors. FBI agents also found an employee at a Dallas Ford dealership that had accessed the key codes to all four of the cannabis-stuffed Fords.
While we all may not own Fords, the case still causes us slight paranoia. We'll definitely be checking our trunks before we cross any more international borders.

2014 Ford Fiesta ST priced from $21,400* [w/poll]

The 2014 model year brings a whole host of changes to Ford's Fiesta B-Segment fighter, the most important of which (to our enthusiast eyes, anyway) is the addition of a potent new ST model. The US-spec hot hatch was first shown at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show last November, and thanks to Ford's build-and-price site, we've now learned that the Fiesta ST will slide in at $21,400 when it goes on sale later this year (*not including $795 for destination).
Under the hood of the ST is a turbocharged 1.6-liter EcoBoost inline-four good for 197 horsepower and 214 pound-feet of torque, mated solely to a six-speed manual transmission. Ford hasn't released performance data on its pint-sized puncher just yet, but know that these numbers make the Fiesta ST ever-so-slightly more powerful than the larger Volkswagen GTI while returning an estimated 34 miles per gallon on the highway.
Elsewhere in the lineup, the standard Fiesta also gets a smattering of improvements for the 2014 model year, including a new 1.0-liter three-cylinder turbocharged engine and revised exterior styling. Pricing for the 2014 Fiesta sedan starts at $14,000, with the five-door model adding $600 to that number (again excluding the $795 destination fee).

Ford Explorer, Expedition next to go aluminum?

Ford made some serious waves when it unveiled the latest F-150. Instead of making its bodywork out of steel, like just about every other truck on the market, Ford went with aluminum. And you can bet the F-150 won't be the last Ford model to go with the lightweight alloy construction, either.
Our compatriots at Edmunds report that Dearborn is considering replacing two of its most popular SUVs with aluminum versions. One candidate is the Expedition, which would make sense considering that the current model (like the two preceding generations and the fullsize Bronco before it) is based on the F-150's underpinnings. Another is the Explorer, which was traditionally based on the Ranger pickup but went with a car-like unibody chassis in its current iteration. If the Explorer does go the way of aluminum, don't expect it to be a part of its very next update, which is likely due too soon for such major changes.
It would stand to reason that, if the Expedition were to go aluminum, so would the next-generation Lincoln Navigator. Ditto the MKT together with the Explorer. But those aren't likely to be the only models in contention for aluminum construction. Like any other automaker, Ford is under pressure to steadily reduce its carbon emissions and improve its fuel economy figures, prompting it to look at a whole range of measures - including more efficient engines, lower rolling-resistance tires, active aerodynamics and lightweight construction. Expect aluminum to play a big part in that equation moving forward.