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Ford will keep Escape and MKC plant open an extra week to meet demand

Crossovers keep selling like popular pastries, and for Ford, that means it needs to keep production going. The company announced that, rather than the usual two-week shutdown, its Louisville, Ky., assembly plant will be open for one of those weeks. The plant builds the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC, which Ford reports have had record sales. According to Ford, Escape sales through May are up 3 percent, and MKC sales are up 10 percent compared with last year. In total, the Escape has sold about 130,000 units through May, and the MKC has sold around 11,000. Keeping the Louisville plant open will allow the company to build an additional 8,500 vehicles. Ford stated that all other assembly plants will continue with the two-week shutdown as scheduled. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Ford Escape: First Drive View 24 Photos Image Credit: Drew Phillips Plants/Manufacturing Ford Lincoln Crossover SUV Economy Cars Luxury lincoln mkc

Driving the Lincoln Aviator and flogging Abarths at Laguna Seca | Autoblog Podcast #593

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by West Coast Editor James Riswick and Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale. To begin, Greg takes a moment to remember the fastest woman on four wheels and former host of Autoblog's "The List," Jessi Combs, who died this week. Then our editors turn their attention to the cars they've been driving, including the Lincoln Aviator, Ford Ranger and Nissan Frontier, as well as Joel's recent stint in the Fiat 500 Abarth and Fiat 124 Spider Abarth, including track time at Laguna Seca. Finally, they turn their attention to a listener in Germany who is looking to replace an aging Volkswagen Eos with a newer convertible in this week's "Spend My Money" segment. Autoblog Podcast #593 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Remembering Jessi Combs 2020 Lincoln Aviator and Aviator Grand Touring 2019 Ford Ranger 2019 Nissan Frontier 2019 Fiat 500 Abarth and 124 Spider Abarth at Laguna Seca Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.  

Ford also working on 200-mile EV to compete with Bolt, Model 3

The Chevrolet Bolt is on a lot of people's radars. You may have even noticed friends and colleagues who harbor very little interest in the automotive world, or anything labeled as "green," who have taken notice of a 200-mile electric vehicle coming out of Detroit. Mass appeal is the idea, after all. You can include Ford in the list of interested parties, in this case with the intention of taking direct aim at the Bolt – and, by proxy, the Tesla Model 3 – with an affordable, long-range EV of its own. Ford will unveil its own long-range EV, positioned to compete with Chevrolet, later this year, according to Automobile. Details are very scarce about Ford's plans, but we do know that the Bolt (or whatever the Chevy all-electric hatchback will end up being called) is expected to offer over 200 miles of driving between charges, with a sticker price around $30,000. The other major player, of course, is Tesla's smaller, more affordable sibling to the Model S. The Model 3, also slated to go on sale in 2017, should cost less than $40,000. While Tesla has established itself in the EV world, another long-range EV out of Detroit would win some customers from the California-based startup. For now, though, we'll just have to wait, as Ford remains tight-lipped about its plans for the car. Automobile predicts a possible unveiling at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, what with California's EV mandate being a driver of strategy for various automakers. Most can agree, though, that a larger field of options – while not ideal for backers of the Bolt or Model 3 – will only benefit the car-buying public. Related Video: Featured Gallery Chevrolet Bolt EV Concept: Detroit 2015 Related Gallery Chevrolet Bolt EV Concept News Source: AutomobileImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Sebastian Blanco / AOL Green Rumormill Chevrolet Ford Tesla Electric Future Vehicles Chevy Bolt ford ev