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Ford justified killing Mercury because Mercury wasn't providing a sufficient chunk of market share in the US. Ford recently announced how much market share Lincoln has and it makes Mercury look good. Justin Berkowitz at Car and Driver made the association, citing Ford's 2010 statement explaining why they were ending the Mercury Brand. Mercury originally was created as a premium offering to Ford and was an important source of incremental sales. Of Ford Motor Company’s 16 percent market share in the U.S., Mercury accounts for 0.8 percentage points, a level that has been flat or declining for the past several...

The murky legacy of Henry Ford—who would’ve been 150 today—centers around a few familiar ideas like the assembly line and the $5 workday. Less familiar is Ford’s biggest failure: Fordlandia, a city in the rainforest that was abandoned as quickly as it was built. Ford was a farm boy who went on to establish 20th century consumerism as we know it, but he had plenty of missteps, too, ranging from his virulent anti-semitism to his attempts to engineer whole communities around his ideas about labor practices—including the one he built on the edge of the Brazilian rainforest. So, whence Fordlandia?...

Relatives recall Gizzell Kiara Ford as a smart, mature and respectful 8-year-old girl. Prosecutors said today her grandmother, Helen M. Ford, 51, of the 5200 block of West Adams Street, inflicted so many injuries on the girl over a long enough period and neglected her so badly that before she died Friday, Gizzell had maggots living in a head injury that had spread to another part of her scalp.

Oklahoma recently saw the destructive power of an EF5 tornado, but in the aftermath of the devastation, we've also been witness to the incredible resilience of the human spirit. Moore, OK resident Jack Haden survived the storm but found that his 2003 Ford Mustang wasn't quite as lucky. As you can see in the image above, the tornado's 200+ mph winds did quite a number on the car, but while most people would have likely called their insurance company and scrapped the car, Haden had other plans. After finding the car and seeing that its V6 still fired up, Haden...

Ford Australia says it will close its Australian manufacturing plants in October 2016, with the loss of hundreds of jobs. Ford president Bob Graziano said approximately 1,200 workers would lose their jobs when the Broadmeadows and Geelong plants were shut down. He made the announcement in Melbourne this morning after announcing that the company had lost $141 million over the last financial year - taking losses over the past five years to more than $600 million. Key points Ford to close plants in 2016 More than 1,000 jobs to go, more at risk Government promises support for sacked staff "Our...

Is Motor City getting its mojo back? After years of losing loyal customers frustrated by quality and reliability problems, domestic automakers are showing a new-found focus on customer service that is winning back skeptics – boosting sales, market share and profits.

Yesterday was filled with big doin’s around here. MO did a movie review while, down the hall, BO addressed the importance of having a brain. Lady M, as part of her continuing series of culturally sensitive movie reviews, held a film workshop on the movie “42.” “42” is a biopic about Jackie Robinson, the baseball player who broke the Major League’s color barrier in 1947 (he also was a successful business man after his baseball career butt he didn’t do that on his own). Jackie’s wife, Rachael Robinson, was in attendance along with the film’s stars Harrison Ford, and other...

Never mind that they were never supposed to see the light of day, Ford is quickly backing away from and apologizing for a pair of less-than-tasteful ads featuring bound and gagged women in the trunk of its Ford Figo. In one, Silvio Berlusconi sits at the wheel with three women who are presumably supposed to be his Bunga Bunga party girls in the trunk; in the other, Paris Hilton winks from the front seat with her reality nemeses the Kardashians stuffed in the back. As Radar reports, the ads were put together by the automaker's India ad team, JWT India,...

Former President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Sen. Wendell Ford have recently downplayed an Ashley Judd run for U.S. Senate seemingly opening national discussion for Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes to potentially run. Ford, who served in the U.S. Senate from 1974-1998, said last week there may be a better Democratic candidate than Judd to face Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2014. “I think there’s maybe some other candidate out there that might be better — with political experience, and with some background. She’s a smart woman apparently,” Ford told Brandon Bartlett of 14-WFIE TV last week. Clinton would likely...

Good morning cool kids! What’s poppin’? Star Wars, man! I still can’t believe there is going to be another another trilogy. I’m not going to lie, I was one of those who were of the opinion that all the recent Star Wars news was a tad overkill. I wanted to disconnect my internet until 2015. I thought lots of folks felt the same way I did. Boy was I wrong. I took an informal twitter poll and asked my followers if they wanted Star Wars scoops. The response was overwhelming. Even my inbox got bombed like never before. Man, y’all...

In a court settlement with the EPA, Edge Products, a manufacturer of electronic power modules for diesel engines, has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine for manufacturing and selling electronic devices that allowed owners of Chevy, GMC, Ford and Dodge/Ram diesel pickup trucks (2007 and later) to remove the programming for diesel particulate filters from their vehicles. The Ogden, Utah, company is reported to have sold more than 9,000 units from January 2009 through April 2011. This is said to have resulted in an estimated 158 tons of excess particulate matter emissions — the equivalent of 422 new long-haul semitrailers...

The Ford Motor Company has been forced to recall over 70,000 Ford Escapes and nearly 16,000 2013 Ford Fusions due to an issue with overheating that may cause the cars’ engines to catch on fire. The recall is only for select models that were sold in Canada and the United States. This comes after several other recalls Ford has had in the recent past. The recall is for Fusion SEL and SE models with the 1.6 liter engine, and the Escape SEL and SE models. Other Fusions and Escapes aren’t included. This is due to drivers reporting that their engines...

Rush is right! And the GOP-e along with the Morrises, the George Wills, etc, failed in their predictions. Morris admitted he had egg on his face, but I did not see George Will admit this. Maybe he did, but I didn't see it. Are the now obsolete? Are the Krauthammers, the O'Reillys, the Vannitys, Rollins, etc also obsolete? Is Vannity still going to continue having the same ol same ol on his show? And what about the other shows on FOX News? Are they going to continue having RINOS/CINO guests/hosts on their shows? Mitt Romney got fewer votes than McCain...

According to the Washington Post, the Ford Foundation has given the newspaper some $500,000 to hire four new staff – a lucrative $125,000 per job deal. The goal: to try “new approaches to preserve and advance high-quality journalism.” The four new positions will “work on special projects related to money, politics and government … The one-year-grant – with an agreement in principal for two additional years – is part of the Foundation’s Freedom of Expression program, an initiative aimed at promoting journalism in the public interest.” The Ford Foundation recently handed $1 million to the Los Angeles Times to cover...

The shutdown of the Genk plant announced by the American manufacturer has sent shock waves through Belgium. But in Valencia, Spain, where the production is moving to, Ford is looking forward to the competitive advantage the region offers. Ford employees blocking the entrance to the US car manufacturer’s Genk plant, October 24, 2012 The October 24 announcement that Ford’s plant in Genk will down tools in 2014 has provoked a wave of anger in the Flemish press. More than 10,000 jobs in the plant itself and in its sub-contractors will disappear. In Gazet van Antwerpen, columnist Paul Geudens rails against...

Ford’s vehicle manufacturing in Britain is at risk of coming to an end after more than a century following the US car maker’s decision to shrink its European production operations. Ford’s vehicle manufacturing in Britain is at risk of coming to an end after more than a century following the US car maker’s decision to shrink its European production operations. It is understood that Ford’s Southampton plant has been earmarked for closure risking 500 jobs as part of a broader consolidation process prompted by the negative impact of the eurozone debt crisis on the industry. In a statement Stephen Odell,...

Ford is doing well. Ford didnt close dealerships that cost 65,000 jobs If GM had followed Fords example they wouldnt have closed up. if we know this why doesnt the GOP counter the. "GM is alive and Osama is dead" with Ford is alive? Why?

TORONTO - The Canadian Auto Workers union said negotiating with the big three automakers - General Motors, Chrysler and Ford - before Monday's midnight strike deadline is like juggling "a lot of balls up in the air." If the CAW, which represents 21,500 members in the three companies, doesn't reach a settlement with the big three, it could mean a walkout could start at 12:01 a.m. Monday. "It's a little tough to tell at this point in time what the impact will be because it depends upon status of bargaining with each of the three companies," CAW secretary treasurer Peter Kennedy said...

The Canadian Auto Workers union is turning up the pressure in contract talks with the Detroit Three auto makers, saying it is prepared to go on strike against all of them at the same time if no deal is reached by the Sept. 17 deadline. “The corporations are refusing to add any costs whatsoever – instead they insist on cutting costs from our existing agreements,” the CAW said in a leaflet distributed Wednesday at Canadian plants operated by Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. “None of the three companies have demonstrated that they are serious about...