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Ford taken to task by gov't for Chicken Tax end-around

Ford is in a bit of a pickle for importing and selling Turkey-built Transit Connect cargo vans as passenger vehicles in the US, then converting them to commercial-vehicle specification stateside in an effort to bypass a 25-percent tax imposed on vehicles imported for commercial use. Automakers are required to pay a 2.5-percent tax on imported passenger vehicles.
The Blue Oval got into trouble for this in a January ruling in which U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials asked Ford to stop the practice of importing the Transit Connect vehicles with passenger seats, then removing and shredding them. Now Automotive News reports that Ford is appealing the ruling. The 25-percent "Chicken Tax," as the tariff is often called, is 50 years old and was enacted as a response to a German tariff on chickens. Like Ford, Chrysler bypasses the higher tariff, but it does so in a different manner. It partially disassembles Sprinter cargo vans before shipping them to the US, then rebuilds them at a plant in South Carolina.
But the ruling against Ford's strategy states that it "serves no manufacturing or commercial purpose" and is there to "manipulate the tariff schedule," Automotive News reports. As Ford's appeal goes through, it is importing the Transit Connect and paying the higher tax, hoping for a favorable outcome and planning to build the next-generation Transit Connect, which it plans to launch before the end of the year, in Spain.

Ford Fiesta ST gets worked out on the track

We're big fans of the turbocharged Ford Focus ST, and we're plenty excited that the Blue Oval will be offering a similar treatment on the smaller Fiesta here in the United States, too. We first saw the production-ready Fiesta ST five-door at the Los Angeles Auto Show last fall, and Ford has now released this video of a Euro-spec three-door ST being flung around the track.
But not just any track - the challenging Track 7 of Ford's Lommel Proving Grounds in Belgium. The course features 20 turns and plenty of elevation changes along its 2.7-mile loop, and David Put, a vehicle dynamic specialist at Ford, shows just how good the pint-sized Fiesta ST is at handling the lot, even getting the smallest ST up on three wheels every now and then.
It sure does look like a lot of fun, and makes us really eager for our chance to try this ourselves. Scroll down to see the hot little Ford getting busy.

Lincoln Continental production likely to shift to Flat Rock

Lincoln production may be returning to Michigan, according to a new report from Automotive News. While the brand's current big sedan, the MKS, is built alongside the Ford Taurus, Ford Explorer, and their Police Interceptor counterparts at the Blue Oval's Chicago, IL factory, the production version of the Continental won't be screwed together in the Windy City. According to AN, "industry sources" claim the Continental will join the Ford Mustang and Ford Fusion – on which the big Lincoln is loosely based – at the company's Flat Rock, MI factory. The move isn't just based on convenience, though. Ford is selling a lot of Explorers, and shifting Lincoln production away from Chicago Assembly frees up production capacity for the popular SUV. "Chicago Assembly Plant is vital to our global manufacturing footprint and will continue to manufacture the Ford Taurus, Ford Explorer and Police Interceptor vehicles even after we phase out production of the MKS in 2016," Ford told Automotive News. "We will continue to match production to demand." Looking at the numbers further backs up the argument against Lincoln production in Chicago. Last year alone, Ford built nearly 285,000 Explorers and over 73,000 Taurus sedans, compared to just 8,300 Lincolns. Finally, as AN tells it, Ford is almost telegraphing the Continental's arrival in Flat Rock. The facility has a four-week shut down scheduled from June 15 through July 13, which is twice as long as the typical summer vacation, while there's another two weeks off slated for September. Related Video: