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Ford today announced it will phase out most cars it sells in North America. According to its latest financial release, the auto giant will "will transition to two vehicles" being the Mustang and an unannounced vehicle, the Focus Active, as the only traditional cars it sells in the region. Ford sees 90 percent of its North America portfolio in trucks, utilities and commercial vehicles. Citing a reduction in consumer demand and product profitability, Ford is in turn not investing into the next generation sedans. The Taurus is no more.

Are you thinking about buying a new fuel efficient car but are wary of hybrid technology? Fear not! There are dozens of cars on the market today that deliver great fuel economy without resorting to heavy and expensive battery packs. While most of these vehicles are designed to run on petroleum products (either conventional gasoline or diesel fuel), the Ford Focus SFE is a FlexFuel vehicle that can run on 100% domestic E85 ethanol fuel as well as conventional unleaded gasoline. 2014 Ford Focus five-door E85 holds a significant price advantage over regular unleaded gas in some parts of the...

One of the auto industry's most closely guarded secrets, the enormous cost of batteries for electric cars, has spilled out. Speaking at a forum on green technology, Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally indicated battery packs for the company's Focus electric car costs between $12,000 and $15,000 apiece. "When you move into an all-electric vehicle, the battery size moves up to around 23 kilowatt hours, [and] it weighs around 600 to 700 pounds," Mulally said at Fortune magazine's Brainstorm Green conference in California. "They're around $12,000 to $15,000 [a battery]" for a type of car that normally sells for about...

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America, are you ready for Rush Limbaugh in an electric car? The conservative talk show host has agreed to take Jay Leno's "Green Car Challenge." In the segment airing next Thursday on NBC's "Jay Leno Show," Limbaugh will race an electric Ford Focus around a custom-built track beside Leno's studio, the show's representative confirmed. The "Green Car Challenge" segment makes its debut on the primetime show tomorrow night. Celebrities who participate drive two times around the twisty track, which takes a little less than a minute to complete. By the time Rush gets behind the wheel of the zero-emission vehicle,...

Rented a late-model Ford Focus in New Jersey a week ago, and got a VERY unpleasant - and very dangerous ! - surprise. When I pressed in the cigarette lighter, it pushed in (exactly as it should have done), energized, and began to heat up. BUT - As soon as it got red hot, the lighter "popped" completely out of the holder, flew away from the dashboard 6 inches, and bounced off my trouser leg (handle end first fortunately!) and (still glowing red-hot) landed on the floor .... where it began melting the carpet. Before I write a safety complaint...

My wife and I have a 2000 Ford Focus and it has been a source of much trouble and expense. We have had some 15 recalls on the vehicle for various things and are still experiencing many troubles with it. The dealer, of course, can and will do nothing about it - except continue to take our money for repair work that seems to repair nothing and the VP of the dealership told me that I have to take my complaints to Ford directly and the corporate office would decide if they want to help us. My questions are these--...

DETROIT, Nov 04, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Ford Motor Co. on Monday announced two voluntary safety recalls on the Ford Focus for 2000 and 2001 model years, covering more than 572,000 vehicles. One recall involves a bolt in the front suspension assembly that may be loose and cause noise, vibration or, in a small number of cases, separation of the ball joint, the company said. The other recall involves Focus vehicles with Zetec engines in which potential problems with battery cable routing could result in smoke, wire melting or a fire. "We are serious about improving not just...