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Ford's J Mays feels vindicated by Fusion reception

It's hard to think back now, but the same man overseeing the design of the 2013 Ford Fusion also presided over a rather lackluster period in Ford design, highlighted by vehicles like the Five Hundred and Freestyle. With the redesigned Fusion receiving high praise, J Mays tells Automotive News that he feels vindicated from criticisms suggesting he's not a daring enough designer.
When Mays took over as lead of design in 1997, he admits to having quite an ego ("My head would barely fit through the door some days. I've long since gotten over myself") and the workload to match. With the Blue Oval's portfolio full of premium brands like Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo at that point, along with the bread-and-butter Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models, Mays certainly had quite the challenge.
It was in the mid-2000s that Mays took over just the premium brands, and took on the new title of Chief Creative Officer. At the time, Mays endured some criticism for looking backwards to retro styling, rather than setting a new standard for American car design - criticism that Mays says he is free from with the all-new Fusion.

UK electric motor maker YASA expands production 50-fold for EVs

LONDON — British electric motor manufacturer YASA said on Thursday it was increasing its production capacity from 2,000 to 100,000 units with a new factory to tap into growing demand from carmakers for greener technologies. Automakers are racing to build greener vehicles and improve charge times in a bid to meet rising customer demand and air quality targets but Britain lacks sufficient manufacturing capacity, an area the government is building up. Last year, the government picked a site in central England to house a new automotive battery development facility, which will develop the processes required to manufacture the latest battery advancements. On Thursday, YASA, based near the English city of Oxford, said it had raised another 15 million pounds ($21 million) as part of its expansion. "Our customers are looking to adopt innovative new technologies such as YASA's axial-flux electric motors and controllers in order to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding hybrid and pure electric automotive market," said Chief Executive Chris Harris. The firm exports 80 percent of production and has worked with companies including Britain's two biggest carmakers Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan as well as Aston Martin. JLR will decide this year whether to build electric cars in its home market, previously citing factors such as pilot testing and support from science and government as pre-requisites. Reporting by Costas PitasRelated Video:

Ian Callum says Jaguar could do new wagon after all

Just the other day we brought you a report from Automotive News Europe that indicated that Jaguar was getting out of the wagon market. Now it turns out that may not actually be the case. Following the ANE report, Jaguar design boss Ian Callum tweeted out that he had been misquoted. "I said there would be no XE Sportbrake," wrote Callum. "Nothing more!" While stopping short of spelling out what the British automaker has in the pipeline, Callum's implication (by process of elimination of other Jaguar models) is that the new XF could still breed a wagon version. The previous XF Sportbrake, which also came in XFR-S performance spec, was only the second wagon Jaguar had ever made. The first was based on the X-Type that preceded the new XE; offering a long-roof version of that new sports sedan is apparently off the table, but even with the new F-Pace crossover ostensibly filling the role, a new XF Sportbrake could yet become a reality. Of course none of that means that such a wagon would make its way to North America. But we take a great deal of stock in what Callum has to say on the subject, seeing as how he designed every one of the models in question. The X-Type Sportwagon was offered Stateside, however the XF Sportbrake never was, and in addition the F-Pace promises to be a big player for the automaker on this side of the Atlantic. Do you think Jaguar should make a wagon out of the new XF, and bring that wagon to these United States? This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Video: