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Ford hiring 800 more salaried workers than originally expected

Ford is on a roll this year, with excellent quarterly earnings and better-than-expected vehicle sales leading to 800 more job opportunities with the Blue Oval. In January, Ford announced that it wanted to hire 2,200 salaried employees, but, since then, that figure has been revised to 3,000, representing a 36-percent increase over original projections. About 1,500 of those jobs remain, 80 percent of which are technical professional positions.
"Engineers and technical professionals are in as much demand as our cars, trucks and SUVs," says Felicia Fields, Ford Group Vice President for Human Resources. Helping to spur this job growth are increasing market share on both the West and East Coast and robust demand for the Ford Escape and F-150.
To find job candidates, Ford is reaching out to them via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, in addition to the company's corporate career site. The Blue Oval is also ramping up its presence on college campuses.

Ford mulling EcoSport for US? [w/poll]

"We certainly have that ability. We're studying it very, very closely." Those are the words of Jim Farley, global head of sales, marketing, service at Ford. The investigation Farley is referring to is the possibility of selling the company's new EcoSport crossover in America.
The diminutive Fiesta-based EcoSport was developed for emerging markets like Brazil and, more recently, China, but it apparently may have a future in the States, where it would form a new entry-level rung below the Escape in Ford's already robust crossover stable. Ford has big plans for its tiny CUV - Farley tells Automotive News that the EcoSport is only available in 10 countries right now, but by 2017, its distribution will have mushroomed to 62 countries. At the time the second-generation model launched at the 2012 Beijing Motor Show as a 2013 model, Ford said the EcoSport would eventually be sold in nearly 100 markets worldwide.
The Brazilian- and Indian-assembled EcoSport is available with a variety of gasoline-powered engines, but the 1.0-liter, three-cylinder EcoBoost giving 118 horsepower and 125 pound-feet of torque would seem to be the powertrain of choice for America, as it was recently confirmed for the stateside 2014 Fiesta.

Mustang retakes monthly pony car sales crown from Camaro

Going back to their origins in the Swinging '60s, the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro have been fierce rivals for fans' hearts and dollars. Historically, the Ford often led in volume, but Chevy took the muscle car top spot in 2009 upon the Camaro's rebirth. However, with the launch of the latest Blue Oval pony car, the tide is turning back in Ford's favor. November was the first full month of sales for the new 2015 Mustang, and according to TheDetroitBureau.com, the model did spectacularly well. The Blue Oval shifted 8,728 of them, up 62 percent from same month last year, with the automaker proclaiming it the model's best November sales since 2006. Conversely, 4,385 units of the Camaro were delivered, down 13.5 percent year-over-year, meaning its sales were roughly half that of the new-generation Mustang. Ford is understandably happy with the results, and product development director Raj Nair even hinted to TDB that another version of the Mustang might be unveiled at January's North American International Auto Show. Rumor has it that the model will be the even more potent Shelby Mustang GT350R. Despite the Mustang's November success, the Camaro outsells it year to day. So far in 2014, Ford has sold 73,124 Mustangs versus 79,669 examples of the Camaro. With December offering the last chance for an overtake, the Bowtie may yet remain king for this year's sales crown. A new Camaro is peeking over the horizon, as well. It's reportedly moving to the Alpha platform used by the Cadillac ATS, and production could start in late 2015. Prototypes are already testing at the Nurburgring, and camouflaged examples have been spotted weirdly being compared to its '80s forefather.