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Lincoln MKC will be renamed the Corsair in 2021, probably

Lincoln will be renaming its MKC crossover, calling it the Corsair instead. Automotive News is reporting that the recently trademarked, yet storied Ford model name Corsair will be affixed on the 2021 model year crossover. The report says Ford has already told its U.S. dealers about the name at an Orlando meeting last month. Ford has a long history with the Corsair nameplate in the States and abroad: Most recently, it has been in use in Australia in the early 1990s, in the UK in the 1960s, and before that Ford offered an Edsel Corsair in the late 1950s. Even if an Edsel connection might not be the best possible thing for a Ford product, let alone a Lincoln, it might serve the crossover well as Ford moves to ditch the MK naming convention it's used for Lincoln for the past decade. Still, the manufacturer is said to have cautioned dealers it might opt out of using the Corsair name before production time. At the same meeting, Ford reportedly showed the next-generation Escape, the Explorer, a battery electric crossover dubbed the Mach 1, a yet-unnamed small SUV (which might be the Bronco) , and a new Lincoln Continental complete with suicide doors. The MKC will still receive a refresh for next year, retaining its letters-name for a couple of years before the bigger redesign for 2021. Currently, the MKC is the strongest-selling Lincoln product in China, and it brings in numerous new Lincoln customers there. In the U.S. it's outsold by the MKX crossover and is neck-and-neck with the MKZ sedan.

2015 Ford F-150 pricing announced, aluminum-bodied truck up just $395

The eagerly anticipated Ford F-150 has had its 2015 pricing announced, adding only a small amount to the pickup's total cost, despite its weight-saving aluminum body. The XL and XLT entry level models only see a $395 boost over the heavier, current-generation, 2014 truck.
The XL starts at $26,615 while the XLT rings up at $31,890. The increase for Lariat is up a similarly negligible $895, to $39,880. Going up the ladder, meanwhile, the leather-intensive King Ranch sees the biggest jump of the F-150 family, with prices increasing $3,515, to $49,460. Finally, picking up the top-end Platinum trim will cost an extra $3,055, with prices starting at $52,155.
The higher prices are being blamed not only on the aluminum bodies, which trim up to 700 pounds of body fat, but on increased levels of standard equipment. While we were expecting a price hike, the fact that the 2015 F-150's volume trims - Ford spokesman Mike Levine told Reuters that the XL and XLT alone cover 70 percent of F-150 sales - have had less than a $400 increase is hugely impressive.

Ford books $1.2B profit in second quarter on strength of trucks

Ford is rolling along nicely, with a positive second-quarter sales report and a $2.3 billion profit in North America. The Dearborn, Michigan-based manufacturer captured $1.2 billion globally from April to June, with a $177 million profit in Asia. Even in Europe, the land of doom and gloom for automakers not named Mazda, Ford saw some success as it lowered its expected full-year loss from $2 billion to $1.8 billion. The company lost $348 million in Europe during the second quarter, which, believe it or not, represents a $56-million improvement over 2012.
According to the report on CNBC, Ford enjoyed a three-percent increase in pre-market trading thanks to the news. The strong demand for the F-150 propelled growth in the US market, while Ford's 47-percent increase in Asian sales can be attributed to the new EcoSport crossover and Kuga (Ford Escape in the US) arriving in the somewhat fragile Chinese market.
Pre-tax profits for Ford are expected to be in the neighborhood of $8 billion by the end of the year, with sales the US, Europe, and China all looking up. The company also shifted $4.78 billion of asset-backed debt in the form of bonds, according to a report by Bloomberg. This move came amidst rumors of the Federal Reserve cutting back on its $85-billion-per-month bond purchases. Ford wasn't alone among automakers looking to sell off debt, though, as Mercedes-Benz and Nissan shifted around $1 billion each in bonds relating to auto loans.