1966 Ford Galaxie 500 4.7l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Takata adds millions to recall expansion in US [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Ford spokesperson Kelli Felker has advised Autoblog that of the 1,509,535 total vehicles worldwide that the company is recalling, 966,504 of them are new additions for this expanded safety campaign. Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that the Takata airbag inflator recalls would expand to an estimated 33.8 million vehicles in the US. However at the time, automakers weren't sure specifically which of their models might be affected under this enlarged campaign. Now, the numbers for BMW, FCA, Ford, and Mitsubishi are being released by the agency. Additionally, Honda is outlining the broadening of its own campaign. BMW's recall amounts to 420,661 vehicles in the US, an increase from 140,696 previously. All of the following models need their front, driver's side airbag replaced: 2002-2005 BMW 325i/325xi/330i/330xi Sedan 2002-2005 BMW 325xi/325i Sportswagon 2002-2006 BMW 330Ci/325Ci/M3 Convertible 2002-2006 BMW 325i/330i/M3 Coupe 2002-2003 BMW M5/540i/525i/530i Sedan 2002-2003 BMW 540i/525i Sportswagon 2003-2004 BMW X5 3.0i/4.4i BMW has received no reports of any injures or deaths from this problem in its vehicles. FCA has 5,224,845 vehicles globally in need of inflator replacements, according to its statement. However, the company is only aware of one injury related to the issue, which occurred in a 2006 Dodge Charger in southern Florida. There are 4,747,202 vehicles worldwide from the company that are affected on the front, driver's side. Among these, 4,066,732 are in the US, 374,508 are in Canada, and the rest are in other countries. The models are: 2005-2009 Dodge Ram 2500 Pickup 2004-2008 Dodge Ram 1500 Pickup 2006-2009 Dodge Ram 3500 Pickup 2007-2009 Dodge Ram 3500 Cab Chassis 2008-2010 Dodge Ram 4500/5500 Cab Chassis 2008-2009 Sterling 4500/5500 Cab Chassis 2004-2008 Dodge Durango 2007-2008 Chrysler Aspen 2005-2010 Chrysler 300/300C/SRT8 2005-2010 Dodge Charger/Magnum 2005-2011 Dodge Dakota 2006-2010 Mitsubishi Raider Also, there are 438,156 vehicles in the US, according to the NHTSA documents, that need their front passenger's side inflators replaced in the expansion of an earlier regional recall: 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 2003 Dodge Ram 3500 The total number of vehicles from Ford now covered under these campaigns stands at 1,509,535 worldwide. Of this total, there are 1,380,604 in the United States, 93,207 in Canada and 16,953 in Mexico.

Ford Focus EV's slow sales trigger massive incentives

The Detroit News reports Ford is having real trouble moving its new Focus Electric. As a result, the automaker is offering substantial incentives in an attempt to lure in more buyers. How substantial? Try $10,750 off of a three-year lease. What's more, the EV can now be had for $37,995 ($2,000 less than its original base price) on top of an additional $2,000 cash discount to buy the EV outright - or you can opt for 1.9-percent financing if you work through Ford Motor Credit. None of which factors in various potential government incentives. Last year, Ford managed to sell a paltry 685 of the 1,627 Focus EV hatchbacks it built.
Ford isn't alone in trying to woo more buyers to its EV effort. Nissan cut the price of its Leaf by a whopping 18 percent for 2013, now down to $28,800 and built in the USA. The move followed the automaker's substantial incentives in 2012.
If you want a Focus Electric, you can now apparently get your hands on one for as little as $285 per month with $930 due at signing for a 36-month lease with 10,500 miles per year.

How that awesome Mustang R/C car chase vid was made

We've reported on a few R/C car chase videos in the past. One in particular that stands out as a favorite is Zach King's "The Cliché RC Action Chase." It featured a pair of Ford Mustang coupes racing through a cardboard city, plowing into outdoor patios and busting through construction zones. It was wonderfully creative and fun to watch, yet we know there was more to its creation than a bunch of guys fooling around with a camera one afternoon.
Turns out we were right, as evidenced by this video produced by Ford that takes us behind the scenes of Zach's creation. The young filmmaker explains why he chose the Mustang to star in his video, as well as how the cardboard sets were created, what equipment they used for shooting and what it was like when his video went viral. Ford found the young filmmaker and produced the followup as part of its Mustang Countdown video series, which will see a new video about the Mustang culture released every week until the original muscle car's anniversary on April 17, 2014.
Want to make an RC chase video of your own? Yeah, we do too. Watch the behind-the-scenes video below (you can refresh yourself on the mini feature film, too) before you get started.