Autoblog

STUDY: Ford owns brand loyalty in 2009; Scorned Saturn, Pontiac buyers will look outside of GM

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:55:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Pontiac, Saturn, Toyota

Ford buyers appear to love their cars more than customers of any other automotive brand, returning back to the American automaker when it comes time to purchase their next vehicle. According to a study by Experian Automotive, six of the top 10 vehicles for customer brand loyalty wear badges from the Blue Oval. That includes the Ford Fusion (62.4 percent), Ford Edge (57.9 percent), Ford Five Hundred/Taurus (56 percent), Ford Freestyle (51.9 percent), Ford Escape (49.4 percent) and the Ford Focus (47.57 percent).

Other vehicles making up the top 10 include the Toyota Prius (52 percent), Chevy Impala (51.7 percent), Toyota Camry (47.8 percent) and Toyota Corolla (47.56 percent). This brings up an interesting question: With the closing of automotive brands like Saturn and Pontiac, where are those buyers to turn for their next automotive purchase?

Apparently, not back to General Motors. According to Experian, Pontiac owners are most likely to look to the Ford lineup for their next car or truck and Saturn shoppers will switch to Toyota or Honda - not particularly surprising given that Saturn was meant to compete with import brands. Experian predicts that GM's overall market share will fall from 20 percent to about 17.5 percent, with most of the slack being picked up by Ford, Honda and Toyota.

[Source: Experian Automotive, USA Today]

Continue reading STUDY: Ford owns brand loyalty in 2009; Scorned Saturn, Pontiac buyers will look outside of GM

STUDY: Ford owns brand loyalty in 2009; Scorned Saturn, Pontiac buyers will look outside of GM originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tall wagon/hatch segment drawing more new entries, but not many customers?

Chris Shunk — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Trends, Wagon, Crossover, Hatchback, Honda, Earnings/Financials

The Chrysler Pacifica lasted all of four years before it was unceremoniously dumped from the Pentastar's lineup. The Ford Freestyle endured a name change after three model years, then lasted two more as the Taurus X before being sent out to pasture. The Cadillac SRX lasted six years as a tall wagon before being completely redone as a more traditional front-drive -based crossover for 2010. Mercedes-Benz's R-Class, essentially a lux'd out minivan without sliding doors, has been gathering moss since it rolled into U.S. dealers for 2006.

Despite the less-than-stellar sales numbers of the aforementioned vehicles, there are a surprising number of tall wagons, genre-bending tippy hatches and style-over-utility people movers on the market, and more are on the way. The most recently announced entry into the tall wagon segment is the Honda Accord Crosstour, which is destined to hit the showroom floor this Fall. As far as we can tell from spy shots, it's taller than a standard Accord and has a hatch-like boot, giving it an aerowagon or "touring" style appearance. It certainly won't hurt the Crosstour's case that it's a Honda, and any association with the Accord name is likely a good thing, but customers have proven to be very picky when it comes to the angular tall wagon format.

What passes for success these days? We think Toyota's Venza is a particularly well-done example that manages to marshall an extra dose of style with still-reasonable utility. It's roomy and almost luxurious, yet Toyota has only sold 20,000 copies through June. The Japanese automaker was hoping for 50,000 sales per year, but Toyota national large car GM Bob Zeinstra tells Automotive News that the Venza is just now starting to pickup steam at the dealerships, and one has to factor in the perilous economy when considering total sales of any new vehicle.

For its part, BMW's X6 crossover, perhaps the poster-child for this automotive platypus segment, has actually been selling well for the German automaker, albeit in significantly smaller numbers than more mainstream models.

If Honda's Crosstour succeeds where the Freestyle, Pacifica and SRX failed, the segment may have some life in it. If it doesn't pass the sales test, we're wondering if automakers will finally give up hope on a segment long on new entries, but short on success stories.

[Source: Automotive News subs req'd | Images: M. Balisky]

Tall wagon/hatch segment drawing more new entries, but not many customers? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can you really open a locked car door with a tennis ball?

Chris Shunk — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:56:00 EST

Filed under: Gadgets, Etc., Videos, Ford, Volvo

You may remember a video that we showed on Autoblog where someone poked a hole in a tennis ball, lined up the hole in the ball with the key-hole of a car, pressed really hard, and the door unlocked. After reading your comments from that post, we decided that it was definitely worth testing to see if this tennis ball technique works for ourselves. One of the commentors from the last post on this subject used pressurized air to try to unlock four different doors to no avail, and another used a plunger (we wish we had video of that) but nobody tried a tennis ball like the video in question.

Hit the jump to see what happened when we tested the "use a tennis ball to unlock your car" trick. We tried it on four different vehicles, and we used two tennis balls, each with a different-sized hole in it to verify our findings. Check it out, and if you have a tennis ball and a screwdriver lying around the house, try it yourself and let us know in the comments if you got the same result we did. We're guessing you probably will.

Continue reading Can you really open a locked car door with a tennis ball?

Can you really open a locked car door with a tennis ball? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford prices 2008 Taurus X from $27,365

John Neff — Mon, 21 May 2007 18:59:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Crossover, Ford

click above image for the complete high-res gallery of the 2008 Ford Taurus X

Ford has announced that the new 2008 Taurus X crossover will carrry a $27,364 base price, including destination charges, when it arrives on dealer lots this summer. The new price a bit more than the $26,670 base price of the current 2007 Freestyle SEL FWD, also including destination charges. While the Taurus X may cost more, it at least comes with a few upgrades to make the additional dineros worth it. For one, you get a shiny chrome badge that says "Taurus" on the back to replace the fugly "Freestyle" badge on current models. If that's not worth the extra cost of admission, Ford has also added its new 263-hp 3.5L V6 to the Taurus X, replacing the underpowered 3.0L V6 in the Freestyle its replacing. Plus, the Taurus X has dropped the Freestyle's CVT transmission, instead gaining a six-speed automatic to handle the new engine's extra ponies. Finally, the new Taurus X just looks more interesting than the current Freestyle with the corporate three-bar grille, new taillights and an updated interior. Honestly, we feel the Taurus X is a better bargain than the current Freestyle, and expect its sales number to either hold steady or grow depending on whether or not Ford decides to actually back up the vehicle with some marketing this time.

[Source: Automotive News]

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Gallery: 2008 Ford Taurus X

Ford prices 2008 Taurus X from $27,365 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 21 May 2007 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chicago Auto Show: 2008 Ford Taurus X unveiled

Frank Filipponio — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:57:00 EST

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Crossover, Ford

High-res gallery of live and press pics available by clicking above image

Today in Chicago, Ford Motor Company's Cisco Codina unveiled the new Freestyle Taurus X. As we told you in our preview post, the Taurus X loses the Freestyle name but gains the Edge's face. It's a simple act that helps build a familial look for Ford's crossovers. And just like the new Sable and Taurus, it will get the 260-horsepower V6 and additional content like the Microsoft co-developed Ford Sync. Unlike the Sable and Taurus, the X gets three row of seats, one-touch flip-and-fold second-row seating and an available power rear liftgate. All three vehicles will be in dealers by this summer.

At breakfast this morning, Mark Fields helped explain the switch back to the Taurus (and Sable) monikers. "Taurus has been an icon for Ford's family sedan for more than two decades, and it's time to return this powerful name to where it belongs. Consumer awareness of the Taurus name is double the Five Hundred that it's replacing, and awareness of Sable is triple that of Montego." Makes sense to us. The details may have changed, but this remains one handsome wagon/crossover. Sort of an SRX with a Blue Oval. Pretty sexy for this segment, and a good sharp alternative to the Edge's softer silhouette. Read more details about the "new" Taurus X in the full press release after the jump, and check out the gallery here, where you'll see a Taurus X that looks particularly good in all black.

[Source: Ford]

Gallery: 2008 Ford Taurus X

Continue reading Chicago Auto Show: 2008 Ford Taurus X unveiled

Chicago Auto Show: 2008 Ford Taurus X unveiled originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IIHS side crash ratings for FJ Cruiser, Ford Freestyle, Fusion, Crown Vic

Damon Lavrinc — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:02:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, SUV, Safety, Ford, Mercury, Toyota

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has wrapped up its latest round of clinical crashing and, as is customary, improvements were seen on newer models, while older vehicles didn't fare quite as well.

Toyota's FJ Cruiser scored a 'good' rating due to its optional side-curtain airbags, with minimal intrusion into the passenger compartment. Joining the FJ Cruiser in the mid-size SUV category was the Ford Freestyle, which also received a 'good' score due to side-curtain airbags, but the IIHS noted that the Freestyle's structure didn't hold up as well as expected.

The Ford Fusion and Crown Victoria had the opportunity to redeem themselves after earlier evaluations ranked both vehicles as 'poor' when struck with the IIHS' movable barrier. The Fusion added side-curtain airbags and brought its score up to 'acceptable', while the Crown Vic, also equipped with side-curtain airbags, increased its score to 'marginal.'

The full report can be viewed after the jump.

Continue reading IIHS side crash ratings for FJ Cruiser, Ford Freestyle, Fusion, Crown Vic

IIHS side crash ratings for FJ Cruiser, Ford Freestyle, Fusion, Crown Vic originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford to take all-wheel drive lead from Subaru?

Erin Mays — Mon, 22 May 2006 11:01:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, SUV, Crossover, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Subaru

Watch out Fuji Heavy, Ford Motor Company is out to nab your claim to fame. The Detroit Free Press states that the automaker working its way toward becoming the leading producer of all-wheel-drive (AWD) cars and crossovers in the North American market. Ford says that it will offer AWD variants of the Lincoln MKZ, Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, bringing its total AWD offerings to 22 vehicles and sales to 500,000 by next year.

The trick, Ford thinks, is to offer up models in the middle range of the market -- vehicles a little above entry-level, but not reaching the high cost of luxury vehicles such as BMW and Audi's AWD offerings.

[Source: The Detroit Free Press; Ford Motor Company]

Ford to take all-wheel drive lead from Subaru? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 22 May 2006 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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