2023 Ford Bronco on 2040-cars

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Ford wants to double hybrid offerings by 2020

The Blue Oval is looking for folks on the other side of this Big Old Sphere to get on board with its hybrid offerings. Ford executive Raj Nair, speaking at the Detroit Auto Show this week, said the US automaker wants to double the number of hybrids models it offers by the end of the decade, Reuters reports. Details of what that actually means is anyone's guess, as it was unclear how many of those models would be in the US and how many would be overseas. That said, Nair did say that prospective customers in regions such as China and Europe would drive the expansion of offerings. Ford got off to a great start in the US last year on its hybrid sales, but then tailed off towards the end of 2013. Ford more than doubled its green-car sales in 2013 to almost 88,000 units. In that number were more than 37,000 Fusion Hybrids and more than 28,000 C-Max Hybrids sold domestically. The company also sold almost 7,500 Lincoln MKZ Hybrids. Ford's green-car totals for 2013 were up fivefold at the mid-year point, hinting that Ford's hybrid sales plateaued, at least temporarily, in recent months.

Surprise! More Ford and Lincoln cars found with marijuana

Ford is starting to have a serious problem on its hands. Today, ABC 7 in Detroit reported that another batch of Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ cars were found packed with 227 pounds of marijuana. This is a little over a week after Fords in Ohio were found stuffed with marijuana and only about two months after Fords in Minnesota were found full of weed. All of the cars traveled on train from Mexico to their destination. All in, several thousand pounds and several million dollars worth of marijuana has been discovered. According to the report, Immigration and Customs Enforcement found the cars at the Ford Rail Distribution Facility in Woodhaven, Michigan, just south of Ford's world headquarters in Dearborn. ICE became involved after a Ford employee reported the cars to Woodhaven police. It's unclear when and where the cars were packed with marijuana. With the cars in Minnesota, it's believed that the weed was added after leaving the factory but before being loaded on the train. Spare tires were removed and the space was used to smuggle the marijuana. Related Video:

3dCarbon now offering body kit for Ford Fusion

A factory-backed body kit by 3dCarbon is now available to Ford Fusion owners who want their car to stand out from the crowd while not being too flashy. The body kit adds a more aggressive front spoiler, side skirts, rear body trim and spoiler that are, in fact, integrated quite nicely into the Fusion's already-comely styling, just as 3dCarbon claims. All Fusions with the kit also receive dual exhaust ports with the stainless-steel exhaust surrounds usually reserved for the Titanium package Fusion EcoBoost models.
A nice detail of 3dCarbon's injection-molded urethane body kit is that it has undergone crash testing to certify that it can withstand crashes up to five miles per hour. Because of this, the kit is warrantied by 3dCarbon for five years or 50,000 miles, much like Ford's warranty on its own parts. In fact, the kit is available through participating Ford dealers and can be financed through Ford Motor Credit. Buyers can purchase the kit - pre-painted or unpainted - and install it themselves, or it can be purchased with a new Ford Fusion and installed at the dealer, pre-painted to factory specifications. Of course, it can also be ordered directly from the source. Take a look at the press release below for more detailed information on the body kit, and let us know what you think of it in Comments.