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Ford Q3 pretax profits drop to $1.18B

Following positive third quarter financial results recently from General Motors, rival Ford took a tumble in Q3. The automaker posted pre-tax profits of $1.18 billion, compared to about $2.59 billion in Q3 2013, a drop of around 54 percent. Net income also suffered with $835 million made in the quarter, versus $1.272 billion last year, a decline of about 34 percent. The Blue Oval blamed the gloomy figures on three reasons in its release: "lower volume, higher warranty costs and adverse balance sheet exchange effects."
There were problems of one kind or another in practically every region. North America experienced higher warranty costs than expected, partially due to recalls. The sales volume for the quarter was 665,000 units, versus 725,000 in Q3 2013, and pre-tax results amounted to $1.41 billion versus $2.296 billion last year.
South America and Europe both posted worse pre-tax results than last year. On the bright side, European volume was up slightly to 321,000 vehicles, from 303,000 in Q3 2013. The Middle East and Africa also lost $15 million, but that was an improvement compared to the $25 million loss previously experienced in this region.

Ford expands door-latch recall to 156k more vehicles, nearly 550k total

Ford is being inundated with recalls as of late. Just days ago it called in over 590,000 cars for a variety of issues. Now, the Blue Oval has announced an expansion of its door latch campaign to cover an additional 156,000 vehicles in North America. Counting the original 389,585 cars, this has brought the total to 545,906. Under this expansion, the same models are affected, but Ford is broadening the coverage dates in some cases. The recall covers the 2011-2014 Fiesta, 2013-2014 Fusion, and 2013-2014 Lincoln MKZ; there are 456,440 units in the US, 50,681 in Canada, and 38,785 in Mexico in need of repair. In these vehicles, a door might not latch because of a broken pawl spring tab. Even if a passenger can successfully close it, the faulty part could unlatch while driving. According to Ford, there are two allegations of doors bounding back and hitting a person. There's also one possible accident from a door opening and striking another vehicle. Dealers will replace all of the latches to fix the problem. Related Video: MAY 1, 2015 | DEARBORN, MICH. FORD EXPANDS DOOR LATCH SAFETY RECALL IN NORTH AMERICA DEARBORN, Mich., May 1, 2015 – Ford Motor Company is expanding a safety recall regarding door latches to include approximately 156,000 more vehicles at the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, bringing the total to 545,906 vehicles in North America. The door latch in certain vehicles may experience a broken pawl spring tab, which typically results in a condition where the door will not latch. If a customer is then able to latch the door, there is a potential the door may unlatch while driving, increasing the risk of injury. Ford is aware of a total two allegations of soreness resulting from an unlatched door bouncing back when the customer attempted to close it, and one accident allegation when an unlatched door swung open and struck the adjacent vehicle as the driver was pulling into a parking space. Affected vehicles include certain 2011-14 Fiesta vehicles built at Cuautitlan Assembly Plant, Nov. 3, 2009 to May 31, 2013; certain 2013-14 Fusion vehicles built at Hermosillo Assembly Plant, Feb. 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013; certain 2014 Fusion vehicles built at Flat Rock Assembly Plant, April 12, 2013 to April 26, 2013; and certain 2013-14 Lincoln MKZ vehicles built at Hermosillo Assembly Plant, Feb. 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013. There are 456,440 vehicles in the United States and federalized territories, 50,681 in Canada and 38,785 in Mexico.

Ford Green Zone works magic with GPS to make your drive smarter, cleaner

For the most part, plug-in hybrids rely on the power stored in the battery until that charge is depleted. Unless the switch can be changed manually, it's only then that the cars fire up the internal combustion engine and begin using the fossil fuels on board. This is ideal, of course, when one's drive isn't long enough that the car needs to start sipping gasoline at all. On longer commutes, when it's certain that the route is longer than the car's all-electric range, this isn't necessarily the most efficient use of energy. Ford's Green Zone system is designed to save some of that juice for the parts of the drive that require slower speeds. Ford is working on a smart system, based on Nokia mapping technology, that uses GPS data to use both the electricity and conventional fuel more efficiently. Since battery power is less efficient at highway speeds, Ford's Green Zone system is designed to save some of that juice for the parts of the drive that require slower speeds, rather than just using up all the electrons right at the beginning of the drive. Using a website or the in-car navigation system, the driver can pinpoint the parts of the route, highlighted in green, where using battery power would be more effective, and set the car to automatically switch to electricity for those sections. Depending on the route, the car could automatically switch back and forth between the two power sources multiple times, particularly if the drive is a mix between city and highway driving. Of course, Green Zone will be go beyond that. The program is being developed to take traffic and road grade into account, details that allow the car to be make even smarter choices to improve efficiency. Ford even hopes to have Green Zone learn driver habits, and respond accordingly depending on who is driving the car. The system could control other features as well, such as anticipating corners and shifting the headlights to better illuminate the road ahead. Green Zone could also potentially use information from vehicle-to-vehicle networking to control functions in the car. The Green Zone system still has a few years before it will be ready to be put into production vehicles, but Ford is confident it will make its way onto the road eventually. As with other innovations that improve efficiency and make our vehicles smarter, we can expect to see similar technology from other manufacturers, until it becomes a regular part of driving in the future.