There
will be a two-door midsized version of the off-road SUV, a four-door
version and a smaller off-roader called the Bronco Sport. In effect,
Ford is creating a separate sub-brand for off-road SUVs under the Bronco
name.
Ford Mustang Mach 1 Logo Design Was A Serious Challenge
June 29, 2020 by Jay Traugott on carbuzz.com
The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1
is back after a 17-year market absence and the Blue Oval knew from the
get-go that updating the icon was going to be a huge challenge. Not only
did the new Mach 1
have to be extremely track-capable, but it also had to look the part.
We already know a lot about its cool new exterior design features, but
there's another element Ford gave serious attention to: the Mach 1 logo.
In fact, the automaker assigned the task of modernizing it to a whole
team of graphic designers led by design manager Dave Mahoney.
What
was their starting point, aside from the original logo? They took
inspiration from their exterior and interior design colleagues who also
had to pay homage to the Mach 1's past while looking ahead.
"From a brand standpoint, that vintage Mach 1 logo has
such a classic look, there was a lot that we didn't want to lose," said
Mahoney. "The unique letters, the outline - it was important to keep
those features. What we did do is make it more modern, which really
suits the new car."
While the new logo pays tribute to the
original with the lowercase "h," Ford didn't want these graphic
designers to come up with a completely retro badge. It had to be modern
yet instantly recognizable. Easier said than done. Ford also made the
decision for the logo to appear in numerous locations through the muscle
car, such as on its hood stripe, front fenders, and rear end. It can
also be found on the strut tower brace under the hood and even the door
sills.
Inside, 'Mach1' can be spotted on the instrument cluster and center
stack touchscreen during startup. There's also a dash badge that
includes the logo as well as the vehicle's serial number.
"When a
nameplate like a Mach 1 comes back, you need to play up the heritage,
but we didn't want this to be a retro badge," said Dean Carbis, Ford's
chief designer. "We wanted it to be modern, while still calling back to
the original. I think the team nailed it."
The 480 horsepower Ford Mustang Mach 1 will arrive in dealerships next spring.
Ford Co-Pilot360™ Technology Adds Hands-Free
Driving, Over-The-Air Updates and More to Help Ford Customers Feel More
Relaxed and Confident
Ford Co-Pilot360™ Technology - a comprehensive collection of
available driver-assist features - adds new offerings including Active
Drive Assist, allowing for hands-free driving on more than 100,000 miles
of divided highways in all 50 states and Canada.
"The stress of long highway drives remains a huge issue for drivers
around the world," said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's chief product development
and purchasing officer. "By introducing driver-assist technologies like
Active Drive Assist, Ford's version of hands-free driving, we're
allowing our customers to feel more confident whenever they're behind
the wheel."
Active Drive Assist is the next evolution of Intelligent Adaptive
Cruise Control with Lane Centering from Ford, adding a first-for-Ford
Hands-Free Mode with the potential for more enhancements in the future.1
Hands-Free Mode allows drivers on certain sections of pre-mapped,
divided highways to drive with their hands off the steering wheel - if
they continue to pay attention to the road ahead - granting them an
additional level of comfort during long drives.
An advanced infrared driver-facing camera will track eye gaze and
head position to ensure drivers are paying attention to the road while
in Hands-Free Mode as well as hands-on Lane Centering Mode, which works
on any road with lane lines. Drivers will be notified by visual prompts
on their instrument cluster when they need to return their attention to
the road or resume control of the vehicle.
"Introducing Active Drive Assist with a driver-facing camera makes
perfect sense because the vehicle helps relieve the stress and burden of
driving but still leaves you fully in control," said Thai-Tang. "And if
you lose focus on the road ahead, Active Drive Assist will
automatically warn and potentially slow the vehicle down until you're
ready to focus back up."
Active Drive Assist begins rolling out on select 2021 model year Ford
vehicles and will be available across the Mustang Mach-E lineup.
For those customers among the first to order a Mustang Mach-E, Active
Drive Assist hardware will be available as part of the Ford Co-Pilot360
Active 2.0 Prep Package at time of purchase.
Ford plans to give customers who purchase the prep package the
opportunity to purchase Active Drive Assist software and receive the
feature at a Ford dealer or via an over-the-air update expected in the
third quarter of 2021.2
The Ford Co-Pilot360 Active 2.0 Prep Package also includes Active
Park Assist 2.0, the latest iteration of park-assist technologies to
give drivers some peace of mind when parking their Mustang Mach-E. With
Active Park Assist 2.0, simply holding a button will allow the vehicle
to take control of parking in parallel and perpendicular spaces with
ease. It also offers Park Out Assist with side-sensing capability so
drivers can confidently navigate out of a parking spot when someone's
parked too close. READ MORE
Honoring The Past, Creating The Future
We are excited to announce that the Bayside family has purchased Adams Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram and will be the new owners as of June 2020, transforming the dealership into Bayside Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. This is a transition we could not be more proud of, due to our longstanding relationship with the Wanamaker family. We are 100% certain that the Bayside family will honor and uphold the values of what the Adams family has built for the community. CLICK HERE to read more about how the businesses and the families came together to pull off this seamless transformation.
The long wait for Ford's
new pickup is almost over. North America Product Communications
Manager, Mike Levine - by way of Twitter - confirmed that the new 2021 Ford F-150 will debut on June 25, 2020, at 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. So make sure to mark your calendars accordingly.
Just this week, we learned that the 2021 Ford F-150 had suffered a second delay to reaching production due to a continued production shutdown stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Ford's U.S. production facilities are scheduled to reopen on May 18th in a limited capacity, but the automaker admitted that it wasn't sure how quickly it would be able return to normal production levels. Despite all of this, the fall launch of the upcoming all-new Ford F-150 remains on schedule, according to Kelli Felker, Ford global manufacturing and labor communications manager.
"We are on track to deliver our all-new Ford F-150 to customers starting this fall," Felkner told the Detroit Free Press.
"The team continues to do an amazing job moving the program forward,
even with coronavirus challenges. We look forward to showing the world
our all-new pickup soon and start delivering to customers this year."
The UAW has confirmed that Ford is required to provide the union with a
copy of the preliminary annual summer shutdown schedule by June 1st
for review, as per their labor contract, which would list any factory
shutdowns from June through October. In addition, suppliers must know
this time frame in advance so they can adequately prepare. As such, we
would imagine it won't be long before we discover when the retooling
might happen.
Generally, it takes around four weeks to change over a plant to build a
redesigned model. However, Felker indicated that a big changeover can
be done in less than four weeks. As of right now, the annual summer
shutdown schedule shows a handful of one and two-week blocks designated
for scheduled maintenance, and it's quite possible that the retooling
for the 2021 Ford F-150 could take place during one of those time
periods.
The preliminary shutdown schedule shows Dearborn shutting down its F-150 line the weeks of September 7th and September 14th, and Kansas City Assembly shutting down their line the weeks of October 12th and October 19th. This would mesh fairly well with what we've heard recently. Rumors suggest that Dearborn assembly is scheduled to begin on October 12th, with Kansas City production beginning on November 9th.
Of course, other than COVID-19 related issues, Ford's botched rollout of the 2020 Ford Explorer
is still looming in the air. But recently-appointed COO, Jim Farley,
has remained adamant that those problems won't resurface with the launch
of the 2021 Ford F-150.
"We've taken important steps to address last year's operational
execution issues," Hackett said. "We're excited about our forthcoming
launch of the redesigned F-150, an anchor of the F-Series, America's
best-selling vehicle for 43 years."
So far, Ford's confidence that it can launch the 2021 Ford F-150 on time
this fall is a good sign. Now, we'll just have to wait and hope that
the process goes smoothly from here on out.
Battling Covid-19 requires an elaborate armor.
First responders don masks, shields, respirators, and other personal
protective equipment to protect themselves from the fast-spreading
airborne virus.
A staple protective gear is the
isolation gown. Made from waterproof material and typically designed
with long sleeves and snap closures, they protect health care workers
while treating patients from splashes and sprays.According to a 2015 survey
by the US National Health Institute, isolation gowns are the
second-most used piece of PPE after medical gloves. Amid the coronavirus
pandemic, these gowns are in such short supply that the US Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) has recently recommended tactics to extend the use of the typically single-use coverings.
Responding
to the shortage, automaker Ford has started producing hospital-grade
isolation gowns with the fabric used in its airbags. Made of a sturdy,
water-resistant nylon with a silicon coating, the gowns can be laundered
and reused up to 50 times. At an April 13 press briefing, the
Michigan-based company revealed that it plans to work with Joyson Safety
Systems, its airbag supplier, to manufacture 100,000 gowns each week
with a goal of delivering 1.3 million units by early July.
Reusing hospital gowns isn't always easy, as the CDC's memo outlines. Flimsy disposable gowns are prone to ripping and would require special sanitation processes to be safely reused.
It turns out, the Nylon 6,6
material used in vehicle airbags as well as parachutes, carpets, and
garden hoses makes for an ideal PPE material. "This was a really great
find," explains Ford director Marcy Fisher at the briefing, noting how
the lightweight fabric is perfectly fluid-resistant. "The gowns are washable and they retained their performance qualities… after 50 times in the wash."
Ford, which consulted a local hospital to finesse the
sewing pattern for the isolation gowns, told Quartz that it conducted
internal tests to make sure they're meeting the standards set by the
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM F3352-19) and the
Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (ANSI-AAMI
PB70-2012).
Ford's rapid gown-making program is
part of its Covid-19 response partnership with 3M, GE, and a range of
manufacturing partners. Last month, it announced plans to mine its supply chain for stock car parts that can be used to augment the design and production of medical equipment during the pandemic.
Here's what we know about the updated truck, including its powertrains, interior details, and styling changes.
The standard F-150 will arrive first, with electric and Raptor versions to follow.
This story originally appeared in the May 2020 issue of Car and Driver,
which was produced in February and early March. The information was
gathered before the auto industry began feeling major effects of the coronavirus pandemic. As many automakers are now delaying or pausing development programs, the debut and on-sale dates reported here may change.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's Ford's
approach to the 2021 F-150. When you've sold more than 4 million
F-series in the U.S. since the introduction of the 13th generation for
the 2015 model year, why tempt fate?
The switch to an aluminum-intensive body for the
last-generation truck was a monumental endeavor, requiring significant
retooling of manufacturing facilities and body shops alike. Ford took
smaller steps this time. The F-150's sheetmetal will retain the same
shape but carry a revised nose and new headlights. Astute eyes might
also notice different taillights, but overall, this redesign looks more
like a mid-cycle refresh than a generational transformation.
The changes should be more obvious inside. Attempting to catch up with Ram's
upscale interiors, Ford's Limited, King Ranch, and Platinum models will
include more premium materials and touch points. An 8.0-inch
infotainment display comes standard while an optional 15.5-inch screen
takes on square proportions in a nod to the Instagram generation. Both
run on the brand's latest software, Sync 4.
Ford
will offer a powertrain for every buyer, with five engines carrying
over from today's F-150. Disregard all rumors of a DOHC 4.8-liter V-8.
The 5.0-liter lives on and shares more parts with the Mustang's
V-8. The four V-6s include two twin-turbo engines displacing 2.7 and
3.5 liters, a 3.0-liter turbo-diesel, and a naturally aspirated
3.3-liter. All are backed by a 10-speed auto.
Few vehicles are as hotly anticipated in 2020 as the Ford Bronco. Scheduled to be revealed later this year, the Bronco should be a thrilling off-road rival for the Jeep Wrangler, removable roof and all. After leaked photos of the Bronco surfaced just a few days ago, we didn't think any more exciting news would emerge until the reveal. Well, we were wrong.
