Ken Block Leaves Subaru – Heads For WRC With Ford

Ok, not many of here at Leonardtown Ford are into WRC or X-Games, but thought this was a great testament to the Ford brand and especially for Ford Focus and the upcoming 2011 Ford Fiesta.  Now the video isn't of Ken Block driving either of these, but it is a glimpse of what we should expect to see once he is behind the wheel of a Focus and Fiesta.  Below the video is the complete article about him leaving Subaru to drive a Ford.



Youtube gymkhana phenom and X-Games Rally Racing star Ken Block has left Subaru Rally Team USA and will compete in both WRC and Rally America on behalf of Ford Motor Company in 2010. The official announcement came from Ford this morning, although USA Today broke embargo and posted the story 12 hours early, creating an instant buzz in the Rally community.

“The easiest thing for me to say is that I am really stoked to have this partnership with Ford. This is going to be one of the biggest challenges of my life and my career. With the World Rally Championship, I am stepping into the biggest rally championship in the world and I will be competing against some of the best drivers in the world. That level of racing isn’t something that you just step into and expect to instantly be on the podium. I would be in fantasyland if I thought that I was going to be anywhere near that. So, for me, 2010 is a developmental year and I am really looking to develop my skills as far as I can and then I can began pushing harder in 2011 and 2012. It is going to be an amazing experience, but I am also very realistic about where I stand in this world and what my goals are going to be for the next year to three years,” Block says.

Block was the 2005 Rally America Rookie of the Year and is a three-time medalist at X Games. Additionally, Block has cultivated a tremendous cult following with his Gymkhana videos on YouTube. The plan is for Block to drive the current Ford Focus developed for FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) competition, and drive the new Ford Fiesta in the Rally America series and the X Games. Beginning in 2011, the Fiesta will become Ford's WRC car. At a minimum, this effort means that an All Wheel Drive forced induction version of the Fiesta will be developed for Rally competition, and perhaps some of that will trickle down to a street car version?

“I am very excited to be in the Fiesta. That is the damn car that beat me last summer at X Games. Ford has a great platform with the Fiesta to develop and push a very good rally car worldwide and also in the showrooms. I am very excited to get in the Fiesta and see what I can do in the Rally America championship and at the X Games and also in 2011 to be in the new Fiesta World Rally car," Block says.

Heading for Ford in the WRC and in Rally America means that Subaru Rally Team USA has lost one of their leading drivers. Clearly, the competition between Block and 4-time national champion Travis Pastrana, who remains with Subaru and has done some introductory P-WRC racing with that brand, is about to heat up.

"I have been doing [Rally America] for five years now and I am going after the championship. I have been very close several times, but this year I feel like it is my year. The biggest challenge is going to be getting me seat time. I have been racing with a different manufacturer for many years now and while I have a lot of confidence in my abilities, jumping into a new car is always difficult. It is a big program we have going on this year, its global and there are a lot of different aspects to it from World Rally Championship to X Games to a new Gymkhana car," Block says.

For their part, Subaru issued Driving Sports TV a fairly bland statement, "It's a positive development for Rally in the U.S. should another manufacturer enter with a factory program." While losing Block is a blow to Subaru's dominance in North American Rally Racing, they still have Pastrana, and have been bringing X-Games BMX champion Dave Mirra up the ladder for the past two years. And the truth of the matter is, having a second manufacturer in Rally America and X Games competition brings tremendous credibility to the Rally America program as the U.S. national rally series.

Away from the world of Rally Racing, there's just one question on the minds of Block's fans - will there be a new Gymkhana video with Ford? Block answers that one easily and readily:

Of course! We are in the developmental stages of a new Fiesta Gymkhana car and we are looking to have some new video content out by the summer.”

Source: Driving Sports, Posted by Jeff Zurschmeide - Editor• January 6, 2010

MyFord Touch proves that the shape of things to come is awesome

MyFord Touch – Click above for high-res image gallery

We were scanning the web today and came across a great article from our friends at autoblog.com. It shows you some of the new technology Ford unveiled at CES this year. We think it's pretty darn sweet and can't wait to get our hands on one. Come on 2011 model year cars! We need our gadget fix. Make sure to check back with your Leonardtown Ford Dealer to see what models will have this available.


Ford began its MyFord Touch presentation with a simple question: "People line up for iPhones – why not cars?" What is it about certain pieces of technology that makes them a "must have"? And since the iPhone is really just a merger of two things we already have (a cell phone and PC), is it possible to blend something into a car that will get 'em lining up around the block? Quite obviously, Ford's hoping the answer is yes.



MyFord Touch – and if you buy a Lincoln, MyLincoln Touch – is a piece of driver connect technology like SYNC, only much more advanced. In fact, you can think of MyFord as SYNC 2.0. Or, you could, if not for the fact that there already is a SYNC 2.0. Regardless, in-car technology can do myriad of things these days, and Ford thinks it's found a way to group and display all of a vehicle's functionality in a logical, intuitive and useful way. Sadly, Ford is internally calling this "simplexity," as in making the complex simple. Or, as we wrote in our notes, "barf." Thankfully, the public will know it as MyFord Touch.


Ford wants you to think of MyFord Touch as an electronic Swiss Army knife. Physically speaking, here's what you get: A large, eight-inch touchscreen display in the center stack, two 4.2-inch LCD screens to the right and left of an analog speedometer (the exact same screens you'll find in the Fusion Hybrid) and two steering wheel-mounted five-way button controls. Using Ford's award-winning HMI (human-machine interface) setup, MyFord Touch seeks to allow a driver to control in-car technology through either voice, touch or the wheel-mounted controllers. As Ford termed it, VUI (voice user interface), TUI (touch user interface) and GUI (graphic user interface).



While that might sounds a touch (no pun) complex, it isn't. How's that possible? Grouping. Ford has gone ahead and broken down all of the possible non-driving-related tasks into four groups: Phone, Climate, Navigation and Entertainment. Is Ford 100 percent accurate with their groupings? Like in submarine warfare, close enough. Not only are there the four groups, but Ford also chose a color for each group. That last part is more important than it might first seem and here's why...







As far as the large, eight-inch touchscreen goes, its four corners each contain a button for one of the four groupings. Phone is brown, Navigation is green, Entertainment is purple and Climate is blue. We haven't had a chance to play with MyFord Touch yet, but we understand that the system is quite customizable. Don't like that shade green? Think Climate should be red and not blue? Not a problem.



Returning to the two 4.2-inch LCD screens, the one to the left contains all your usual mileage and fuel information: trip computer, radar cruise control distance indicator, vehicle information and even a tachometer, if you like. In other words, information directly related to operating the car. The screen on the right however, displays information from the four MyFord Touch groupings. The idea is that after a little practice, you will be able to know which group you're looking at simply based on color – you won't have to read anything – and your eyes will spend more time on the road. A noble goal, for certain.

Going with that mantra and/or old Doors song, the five-way thumb controls (up, down, left, right, click) keep your hands on the wheel. The left controller is for the left screen, and (shockingly) the right is for the right one. Of course, even better than using a touchscreen or working wheel buttons is using your own voice. Ford assured us that the voice recognition system shipping with MyFord Touch is much more conversational than the VR system currently shipping with SYNC. Instead of talking your way through a series of menus (SYNC asks you what source you want, for example iPod, then asks you what track or artist), MyFord Touch should just require you say, "Play 'John the Fisherman' by Primus" and be done with it. Emphasis on should.



Here's a couple of nifty details, and please keep in mind that we didn't get to play with MyFord Touch – yet (expect a video coming soon out of CES). Users will be able to take all of their MyFord Touch settings with them from vehicle to vehicle – just plug in an SD card or flash drive and you're good to go drive another MyFord Touch-equipped car. Your color scheme, your radio presets, your music tags, your seat position – whatever – all go with you. It will even welcome you by name, no matter the car. With the music tags, MyFord and MyLincoln Touch are the first systems that allow you to tag songs on the fly. Ford didn't go into great details on this, but we imagine you could would be able to hear something on the radio, tag it, and then let MyFord Touch search for it. This could be especially cool with the SYNC app that lets you listen to internet radio.







The first vehicle this new system will be available on is the 2011 Lincoln MKX, which will debut at next week's Detroit Auto Show. As such, we'll be looking at MyLincoln Touch as opposed to MyFord. Differences? Not really, but the two come standard with different colors (MyLincoln's are yellow for Communication/Phone, green for Navigation, red for Entertainment and blue for Climate). Shouldn't the colors be identical? Probably, but they are customizable and portable, so it doesn't really matter. After the MKX, look for this technology in the refreshed 2011 Ford Edge and then the all-new 2011 Ford Focus. Eventually, 80 percent of all Fords will be available with MyFord or MyLincoln Touch. Just speculating here, but we wonder if the 20 percent not getting the good stuff is Mercury...



Besides all the little details, the big picture we took away from the MyFord Touch is Ford is serious. These people knew going halfway wouldn't be good enough. The screens are beautiful. Before seeing MyFord Touch, we already thought that Ford had the best navigation/entertainment stuff in the industry (SYNC is really, really good – especially with Sirius Travel Link). MyFord Touch brings Ford a generation (or two) beyond the competition. In other words, no one could even compete with Ford's old stuff. How on earth will they manage against MyFord Touch?
Source[AutoBlog]

By the Numbers - 2009: Up and Down Year Ends Down For Most Edition

Subaru, Kia and Hyundai increase alone, FoMoCo loses least




We at Leonardtown Ford regonize what a terrible year 2009 was for the auto industry as a whole. The slumping economy did nothing to bolster consumer confidence to say the least. We at your Ford Dealer in Southern Maryland noticed that all year long. With all that being said we were happy to see some good news in what could easily be considered a bad news report. Call us the eternal optimists be we see it as a glass half full senerio for us.

Most automakers giving themselves a pat on the back for a strong sales performance in December should take a second look at the books. A good month of sales to finish off a crappy year still equals a crappy year of sales. The chart below makes this perfectly evident, as only three individual brands and no multi-brand automakers managed to make it through 2009 selling more vehicles than they did in 2008. Not surprisingly,Subaru, Kia and Hyundai (in that order) were the three brands to post an overall sales increase in 2009, with Subaru posting a double-digit rise of 15 percent. With 216,652 sales overall, Subaru now sells more vehicles in the U.S. thanVolkswagen and Mazda, two direct competitors with larger lineups.

Though no multi-brand automaker can claim a sales victory in 2009, you might be surprised to learn that Ford Motor Company with its Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo brands performed the best. FoMoCo sales in 2009 fell 15 percent, a smaller drop than any of its competitors. Toyota Motor Company sales (Toyota and Lexus combined) fell over 20 percent, but the Japanese juggernaut still managed to beat Ford in number of vehicles sold (1.77 million to 1.68 million).

The rest of the industry's performance can be viewed in the chart below. Note that there were 308 selling days in both 2008 and 2009, so the percent change in volume sold will equal the percent change in the daily average sales rate.

Brand/Company	Volume %	Dec. '09	Dec. '08	DSR* %	DSR Dec. '09	DSR Dec. '08
Subaru	15.43	216,652	187,699	15.43	703	609
Kia	9.75	300,063	273,397	9.75	974	888
Hyundai	8.29	435,064	401,742	8.29	1,413	1,304
Volkswagen	-4.34	213,454	223,128	-4.34	693	724
Audi	-5.75	82,716	87,760	-5.75	269	285
Ford	-14.34	1,445,742	1,687,731	-14.34	4,694	5,480
Mercedes-Benz	-15.34	190,604	225,128	-15.34	619	731
Volvo	-15.96	61,435	73,102	-15.96	199	237
Mini	-16.37	45,225	54,077	-16.37	147	176
Lexus	-16.96	215,975	260,087	-16.96	701	844
Nissan	-17.81	689,014	838,361	-17.81	2,237	2,722
Honda	-18.63	1,045,061	1,284,261	-18.63	3,393	4,170
Toyota	-20.61	1,554,174	1,957,575	-20.61	5,046	6,356
BMW	-21.12	196,502	249,113	-21.12	638	809
Mazda	-21.29	207,767	263,949	-21.29	675	857
Lincoln	-22.79	82,847	107,295	-22.79	269	348
Mercury	-23.24	92,299	120,248	-23.24	300	390
Porsche	-24.35	19,696	26,035	-24.35	64	85
Chevrolet	-25.35	1,344,629	1,801,131	-25.35	4,366	5,848
Buick	-25.43	102,306	137,197	-25.43	332	445
Acura	-26.84	105,723	144,504	-26.84	343	469
Infiniti	-28.23	81,089	112,989	-28.23	263	367
Jeep	-30.61	231,701	333,901	-30.61	752	1,084
GMC	-31.09	259,779	376,996	-31.09	843	1,224
Cadillac	-32.31	109,092	161,159	-32.31	354	523
Pontiac	-33.31	178,300	267,348	-33.31	579	868
Dodge	-33.34	522,686	784,113	-33.34	1,697	2,546
Smart	-40.72	14,595	24,622	-40.72	47	80
Mitsubishi	-44.85	53,636	97,257	-44.85	174	316
Chrysler	-47.18	177,015	335,108	-47.18	575	1,088
Saab	-59.38	8,680	21,368	-59.38	28	69
Saturn	-61.35	72,660	188,004	-61.35	236	610
Hummer	-67.09	9,046	27,485	-67.09	29	89
COMPANIES
Ford Mo Co	-15.39	1,682,323	1,988,376	-15.39	5,462	6,456
Nissan NA	-19.05	770,103	951,350	-19.05	2,500	3,089
American Honda	-19.46	1,150,784	1,428,765	-19.46	3,736	4,639
Toyota Mo Co	-20.18	1,770,149	2,217,662	-20.18	5,747	7,200
BMW Group	-20.27	241,727	303,190	-20.27	785	984
General Motors	-30.07	2,084,492	2,980,688	-30.07	6,768	9,678
Chrysler Group	-35.90	931,402	1,453,122	-35.90	3,024	4,718

SOURCE [AutoBlog]

Ford Mustang takes the 2009 Pony Car sales crown from the Chevrolet Camaro

It's official: The Ford Mustang outsold the Chevrolet Camaro in 2009, despite a string of month-on-month sales leads over the Blue Oval's pony car. But it was a close race.

According to sales data released by both Ford and General Motors, the Mustang sold 66,623 units in 2009, with GM coming in close behind with 61,618 Camaros sold for the year.

Early on, there was speculation that the Camaro could overtake the Mustang if its sales streak continued, but despite pent up demand for the bowtie brand's retromobile, Ford sold 6,327 Mustangs last month -- over 60 percent more than it did in November. Not a huge surprise, but a good showing nonetheless, and with all the updates to the 2011 Mustang, we suspect that next year's race won't be nearly as entertaining.
Filed under: Coupe, Chevrolet, Ford, By the Numbers

Ford Mustang takes the 2009 Pony Car sales crown from the Chevrolet Camaro

1960's concept vehicles, 1965 Ford Mustang

I was looking for some things to blog about this morning and came across this video that was kind of interesting.  Note that some of the items they talk about - adjustable brake pedals, memory steering wheels are things that we have available today...pretty cool how far in advance these things were first part of concept vehicles.  If you want to compare these to the 2010 vehicles Ford has in the lineup, go to Leonardtown Ford.

NHTSA launches distracted driving website.

 

Distracted driving in the nation as well as the Leonardtown Ford area is becoming a very real concern in the age of texting, cell phones, touch screen navigation and fast food. So what is a government to do to stop the madness? New laws? More police enforcement? Maybe at some point, but for now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has created a new website called distraction.gov. The site provides facts and figures that shows how distracted driving affects your ability to drive safely while also working as a news feed for new distracted driving legislation.



You may have heard that driving while texting makes you 23 times more likely to get into an accident, but the NHTSA site gives more alarming stats. For example, the site claims that driving while talking on the phone makes you as much of a hazard as someone driving while over the legal drinking limit. The site also claims that 6,000 people died in distracted driving accidents in 2008 and that drivers using hand held devices in the car are four times as likely to seriously injure themselves in an accident. Even more disturbing is the fact that the NHTSA found distracted driving fatalities went from 8% in 2004 to 11% in 2008.



Head over to distraction.gov for more interesting info, but try not to pull up the site on your mobile while you're on the road. And try not to get distracted by Ray LaHood's eyebrows when you click.



[Source: Distraction.gov | AutoBlog | Photo: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images]

SYNC to offer iTunes tagging through HD radio

Here's another first for Ford after the revelation of its motion-capturing software: The Blue Oval will be the first to offer iTunes tagging through iPods on SYNC-equipped vehicles. Right behind the announcement of mobile Internet connectivity being added to SYNC, this will go along with the package of mobile apps the carmaker will reveal at CES next month. 



The way it works: if you you have SYNC with HD radio, when you hear a song you like on an HD station you can press the 'Tag' button, and the system will note the track. When you plug your iPod in, it will suck up all of those tracks in a 'Tagged' playlist. You can have another listen through them and then buy the ones you want from iTunes.



There are other makes of vehicles that will let you record songs directly onto the car's hard drive for a fixed amount of time, but you can't really do anything with the recording after that. Ford's setup won't get you that immediate satisfaction, but it will save you a few steps. You can read the press release on the new – and free – feature (provided you've paid for SYNC and the HD-equipped head unit) after the jump.

FORD PRESS RELEASE



FORD FIRST TO ENABLE iTUNES SONG TAGGING WITH LAUNCH OF NEW HD RADIO CAPABILITY IN ITS LINEUP



DEARBORN, Mich., Dec. 29, 2009 – iTunes Tagging and crystal-clear radio sound through HD Radio technology are the latest features on Ford's growing list of factory-installed customer conveniences and technologies that will be newly available in 2010.



HD Radio receivers pull in digital radio signals and play them with dramatically improved sound. FM stations, for example, have near-CD quality, making it convenient for customers to select songs they want to download and purchase.



"iTunes Tagging and HD Radio technology are strong new additions to the growing collection of Ford convenience features and technology we're offering customers to make driving even more enjoyable," said Mark Fields, president of The Americas. "This is another example of Ford's commitment to bring the widest variety of factory-installed customer-focused technology, features and conveniences to millions of people."



• Ford is the first auto manufacturer to offer HD Radio™ technology with iTunes® Tagging capability; this new functionality will be available next year

• HD Radio technology captures free digital radio broadcasts, which eliminate static, fadeout and other problems associated with conventional analog radio signals; the result is FM audio that's comparable to near-CD quality and AM audio that sounds like today's FM broadcasts

• HD Radio digital technology provides a number of advanced services not available with an analog radio. Extra FM channels, called HD2/HD3 channels, are delivered, as well as useful on-screen Program Service Data such as artist name and song title



In 2010, Ford vehicles will offer familiar terrestrial radio, HD Radio technology, SIRIUS® Satellite Radio as well as Internet radio through Ford SYNC® from a Bluetooth®-streaming audio-capable smartphone.



"Ford continues to lead the market in bringing advanced capabilities to popular vehicles. We are very pleased that HD Radio technology is an integral part of Ford's broad offering of new features," said Jeff Jury, COO of iBiquity Digital Corporation, the developer of HD Radio technology.



Like the song? You can tag it

The world's first implementation of iTunes Tagging in a factory-installed HD Radio receiver will launch in 2010 on select Ford vehicles. Through the SYNC system, iTunes Tagging will provide Ford customers with the ability to capture a song they hear on the HD Radio receiver for later purchase. With a simple push of the "TAG" button on the radio display, the song information will be stored in the radio's memory.



Up to 100 tags on SYNC can be stored until the iPod is connected. When the iPod is then synced to iTunes, a playlist of "tagged" songs will appear. Customers then can preview and, if desired, purchase and download tagged songs from the iTunes Store. All HD Radio-enabled receivers in Ford vehicles also will provide Program Service Data – information that appears on the radio screen and includes song title, artist name and more. 



Familiar controls with better quality

HD Radio technology enables more listening options and increased sound quality by using the same radio interface customers are used to as well as the same antennas and analog tuners with an added digital decoder inside the radio. Additionally, HD Radio-enabled receivers provide listeners with unique advanced services.



To operate, there's no difference from today's radio operations – customers just tune in your favorite station. If the station is broadcasting with HD Radio technology, the system automatically picks up the signal and will transition to digital audio once decoded.



Exclusive to HD Radio receivers are HD2/HD3 channels, which resemble mini-stations that could be spun off the "mother" station or completely new content for the local market. HD2/HD3 channels are found directly adjacent to the main (HD1) channel on the dial if available.



If additional HD2/HD3 channels are available, the radio will indicate how many on a multicast information bar. Users may tune up to the new available channels like they would tune to any other analog station. Users also may store HD2/HD3 presets, just as they do with today's radio.



HD Radio technology enables better audio and exclusive unique content choices One significant benefit of HD Radio technology is that the sound quality of the broadcast is dramatically better because of the digital transmission – FM sounds like a CD and AM sounds like today's FM broadcasts. Also, the sound itself is much clearer and more consistent, without

issues such as pops or hisses. Unlike analog broadcasts, digital broadcasts aren't susceptible to interference, fadeout and other issues.



Most stations use the additional HD2/HD3 channels to provide more unique coverage of sports, music or other niche programs often tailored for their individual markets – all for free. For example, in Dallas there is now a dedicated 24/7 Cowboys channel on 105.3-HD3. In Pittsburgh, there is a dedicated 24/7 Penguins channel on 105.9-HD2. Broadcasters may choose any genre they wish for their additional channels.



Nearly 2,000 radio stations in the U.S. currently broadcast in digital HD Radio sound, with nearly 1,000 stations also airing HD2/HD3 channels. Approximately 85 percent of the U.S. population is served by a station broadcasting with HD Radio technology. and http://www.ibiquity.com.