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Ford pulling out of V8 Supercars after 2015

Australian racing fans are staring down the end of an era as news breaks that Ford will no longer participate in the V8 Supercars series. Although the official announcement has yet to be made, the decision – as reported widely in the automotive press Down Under and in global motorsport publications – indicates that the Blue Oval automaker has already confirmed its intentions to its shareholders early on Monday to shut down its factory effort in the popular tin-top series at the end of next season. The move will mark the end of an era for what has become the International V8 Supercars Championship. Alongside GM's Holden division, Ford was one of only two manufacturers competing in the series from its inception in the late 1990s through last year when a change in regulations opened the door for entries from Nissan, Volvo and Mercedes. Further rule changes are expected to attract even more manufacturers to the series, with Lexus said to be first among them. Over the past eighteen seasons, the V8 Supercars Championship has been won in a Holden Commodore fourteen times, leaving Ford to win the title only four times with successive versions of the Falcon. Eleven of the cars on the grid this season were Commodores, compared to only seven Ford Falcons between two teams that will need to switch to another manufacturer for the season after next – although some could opt to stick with their Fords for one more season, even without factory support, until the open 2016 regulations take effect. The decision follows Ford's announcement last year that it will cease manufacturing in Australia by 2016, ending a 90-year presence Down Under that stretches back to 1925. Blue Oval models like the Falcon, previously unique to the Aussie market, are being replaced by imported models like the Mondeo and Mustang.

2017 Ford Super Duty trucks recalled because the fuel tank could fall off

Bad news from Dearborn. Ford just announced a pair of recalls, including a particularly worrying flaw in the new F-Series Super Duty. According to Ford's official announcement, there are roughly 8,000 of its big trucks on the roads with a missing reinforcement bracket – if it's not there, the fuel tank could separate from the frame. Yes, Ford is basically saying the fuel tank could fall out. We don't need to explain why this would be a very bad thing. Fortunately, no owners have experienced said bad things – Ford claims it's unaware of any fires, injuries, or accidents resulting from the flaws. The Kentucky Truck Plant built the affected pickups between August 10 and September 17. The bulk of the vehicles are in the US – 7,103, to be precise. Another 964 are cruising around the frozen Canadian tundra, while two more are in "federalized territories." The other recall is smaller, but reaches across a broad swath of the Blue Oval's family vehicles. Ford says there are 1,352 Taurus sedans, Flex crossovers, Explorer SUVs – including the Police Interceptor Utility variant – and Lincoln MKTs equipped with the company's 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 that could catch fire. In this case, the danger isn't a detached fuel tank, but an "improperly brazed turbocharger oil supply tube" that could leak and spill engine oil on the turbocharger. Again, Ford isn't aware of any fires, accidents, or injuries due to the flaw. Here's the breakdown of manufacturer dates and location: 2016 Ford Taurus vehicles built at Chicago Assembly Plant, Oct. 18, 2016 to Nov. 2, 2016 2016-17 Ford Flex vehicles built at Oakville Assembly Plant, Oct. 18, 2016 to Nov. 10, 2016 2017 Ford Explorer vehicles built at Chicago Assembly Plant, Oct. 15, 2016 to Nov. 12, 2016 2017 Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicles built at Chicago Assembly Plant on Nov. 2, 2016 2016-17 Lincoln MKT vehicles built at Oakville Assembly Plant, Oct. 18, 2016 to Nov. 10, 2016 As with the Super Duty recall, most of the affected cars, crossovers, and SUVs are in the US market. There are 126 units in Canada and six in the same "federalized territories" mentioned above. In the case of both recalls, dealers will inspect the affected parts and replace or add them as necessary. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Ford decides C-Max shoppers not interested in fuel economy

If you say a car – the Ford C-Max Hybrid, for example – is "fun to drive," can anyone really come up with some empirical evidence against your claim? What about calling it "versatile"? We wonder if Ford has been thinking along these lines when it talks about the green little hatch. Ford is refocusing its sales strategy for the C-Max Hybrid after the model took a sales hit on both sides of the Atlantic recently, Automotive News reports. That sales dropoff may stem from the fact that Ford has had to revise its fuel-economy figures downward for the C-Max twice since last year, most recently in June. That made the company's once-proud fuel-economy comparisons with the Toyota Prius kind of pointless. Ford is going a different route, calling the model versatile (which, to be fair it was also doing a year ago), technologically advanced and fun to drive. Since the C-Max has about 50 more horsepower than the Prius, that last part may be true. Ford representatives didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from AutoblogGreen about the mpg-mention-free advertising direction, but we will update this post if we hear back. Sales of the C-Max Hybrid have suffered in the US. Through September, Ford sold 15,245 C-Max Hybrids, down 36 percent from last year. We shall see if a new focus away from the car's lowered mpg numbers helps. At least Ford can be pleased with sales of the C-Max Energi Plug-in Hybrid, which are up 51 percent compared to 2013.