1930 Ford Model A Coupe on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Here are the best-selling cars and trucks from January 2015

Every month, Autoblog slogs through all the sales figures reported by automakers that do business in the United States, and, after a little bit of sorting, we put it into an easy-to-read chart in an attempt to make it as easy as possible to follow the ins and outs of sales and shipments. But that only covers the brands themselves, not the individual models they sell. And we think you'd all be interested in knowing which vehicles beat their rivals in sales from month to month, so we've put together this handy gallery to keep you in the know. While the leader of the pack may not come as much of a surprise, the order that the top ten finishes in changes frequently – due to automaker deals, the price of gas, etc. – and we've included some statistics to help you see how their current performance stacks up to month's past. Click here to see January 2015's Top Ten Best-Selling Cars And Trucks In America. By the Numbers Chevrolet Ford GM Honda Nissan RAM Toyota Car Buying

NHTSA opens investigation into Ford Explorer PI brakes

This year more than most, it's pleasant when we can string together a few days without word of an automaker or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announcing a bunch of new recalls. It's seemingly been a little quiet on this front lately (barring a spider-related Suzuki issue revealed early today), but now we have word of the government safety agency opening a Preliminary Evaluation into the 2013 Ford Explorer Police Interceptor, a probe that could potentially affect an estimated 20,000 vehicles.
The issue being investigated concerns failures of the front brake hose on the vehicle that show "small splits in the hoses near the body side ferrule of the hose assembly," according to the agency, and the issue could result in longer stopping distances. The feds have reports of 13 malfunctions affecting 11 Explorer units. However, it's important to note that all of the incidents come from a single, unnamed metropolitan police fleet that operates 46 of them. According to The Detroit News, the failures generally took place between December and July.
NHTSA is investigating further to find if this is a more widespread issue than just this one fleet. Ford spokesperson Kelli Felker confirmed to us, "We are cooperating with NHTSA on this investigation, as we always do." Scroll down to read the agency's report.

How and why Ford is rolling out Vignale in Europe

We know that Ford is positioning the new, upscale Vignale brand in Europe to fill a niche market of customers who want a bit more luxury, a lot more service and the same reliability and dependability that a non-Vignale Ford offers. But so far, we've been in the dark regarding how the Blue Oval will sell Vignale vehicles, how many of them will be created, and what the new sub-brand has in store for the future.
Gaetano Thorel, Ford's European marketing head, recently was interviewed by Automotive News and shared details about Ford Vignale. Thorel says, "The Vignale trim line will be priced like an ST model but attract a completely different type of customer." Specifically, he says it will attract customers in the upper 15 percent of the price band who don't want a performance-oriented ST model. He adds that Vignale cars will be about 10 percent more expensive than Titanium-trim cars. About 500 of Ford's European dealers will sell Vignale Fords, Thorel says, "in areas that make sense." The automaker expects 10 percent of its European sales to be Vignale cars, which equates to about 5 percent of its global sales. When asked if there are any other Vignale models planned beyond the Mondeo, Thorel said, "There is nothing written in stone yet."