R.I.P. Ralphie: Ford Sacrifices a Cane Toad in New Falcon EcoBoost Commercial

As part of the 240hp (179kW) Falcon EcoBoost launch in Australia, Ford's local division in cooperation with JWT Melbourne prepared a new online commercial called the "Cane Toad Road", which for the time being, is not intended for television.

The viral video kicks off by showing a pair of cane toads, which are native to Central and South America, but were introduced to the northeastern parts of Australia in the 1930s to control the beetle population.

The two cane toads are sitting on the road talking to each other before they notice a car coming their way. Ralphie, the male toad, sees no reason to move quickly as he rightly guesses from the sound that it is a four-cylinder model.

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Ford Quietly but Successfully Blocks China's JAC Efforts to Produce F-150 Pickup Truck Clone

Do you remember China's JAC 4R3 pickup truck clone of the Ford F-150 that made headlines earlier this year? For those who can't recall what happened last week, let alone in February, here's a bit of a refresher.

In January, JAC Motors presented a doppelganger of the Ford F-150 called the 4R3 to its domestic dealers, with plans to begin series production towards the end of the year. Naturally, photos were taken at the event and it didn't take long for the news to reach the other side of the Pacific.

At the time, JAC was planning to debut the 4R3 at last week's Auto China 2012 in Beijing, but as you may recall, that didn't happen. Why, you ask? Well, evidently, Ford did what it had to do to protect itself from JAC's unapologetic move to clone the F-150.

Speaking to Autoline's host John McElroy, Bill Coughlin, President and CEO of Ford Global Technologies and Intellectual Property Chief, said that the Blue Oval took all the necessary steps to prevent this from happening.

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Japan's Subaru BRZ Declares War on the 2013 Ford Mustang V6

After we learned how much Subaru's all-new BRZ costs in the States, someone was bound to put the Japanese sports coupe up against the quintessential American pony car, the 2013 Ford Mustang in V6 trim. And that someone was Angus MacKenzie from MotorTrend magazine.

The similarities between the two sports coupes begin with their price and end with their front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout.

The 2013 Ford Mustang is a modernized version of an old formula that combines a solid rear axle with a contemporary 3.7-liter V6 that churns out 305hp at 6,500rpm and 280 lb-ft (380Nm). Ford's pony car tips the scales at 3,511 pounds (1,593kg).

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Eight Global Automakers Including GM, Ford, BMW and the VW Group to Display Universal Fast Charger

The ascent of electric vehicles has posed the question of how they will be charged as each automaker had developed its own technique, but that is the equivalent of having different fuel ports on gasoline-powered models.

One of the answers to this question comes from eight major automakers from the United States and Germany that have agreed upon a common fast-charging technology for use on electric vehicles in Europe and the United States.

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Ford Confirms 2013 Focus ST Price at $23,700, Launches Configurator and New Videos

It took Ford less than 24 hours to announce official pricing for its new 2013 Focus ST hot hatch after last night's leaked spec sheet gave us initial details. We will just remind you that the five-door model starts at $23,700, not including a $795 delivery and handing fee.

The new Focus ST gets a 2.0-liter turbocharged EcoBoost engine SAE-certified at 252 horsepower and 270 lb.-ft. linked to a six-speed manual gearbox that drives the front wheels.

Among the more interesting options available for the Focus ST is the ST2 package priced at $2,385, which adds a Sony audio system with HD radio and a pair of Recaro partial-leather seats, and the ST3 package that costs $4,435 adding HID headlamps, ambient lighting and full-leather Recaro sport seats.

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Detroit's Big Three Face Significant Problems and Big Loses in Europe

All in all, the US automotive industry is in a very good shape, especially if you consider that three years ago General Motors and Chrysler were one step before closing shop.

General Motors, helped by a raft of new products and Toyota’s production problems, is once again the world’s number one car manufacturer. The Pentastar has tied up with Fiat – and even though the latter was thought to be the knight in shining armor, now it is Chrysler that is bringing in the profits while its Italian partner is struggling.

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2013 Ford Focus ST U.S. Pricing Leaked, Starts from $23,700*

We are not sure when Ford is planning to release official pricing for its U.S. market 2013 Focus ST, but a leaked dealer document discovered on the FordSTNation forums by the team over at Jalopnik tells us that the hot hatchback will start at $23,700 when it arrives in dealerships across the States within the next few weeks.

The aforementioned MSRP does not include a destination and handling fee (*), which should be the same as the rest of the Focus lineup at $795, bringing up the price to $24,495.

We also see the cost of some options including the moonroof at $895, the navigation system at $795, the Tangerine Scream Tricoat Paint at $495, and the engine block heater at $35. There are also two equipment packages named 201A ($2,505) and 201A ($4,840), though we don't get any details about their content.

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Ford to Invest $4.9 Billion to Revamp its Chinese Operations, Lincoln not Part of the Plan for Now

Being the number two automotive group in the US, and the fifth largest worldwide behind Hyundai, is no mean feat for Ford. Having an almost non-existent 2 percent share in the world’s largest car market, however, is.

Last year’s Thai floods resulted in a US$92 million loss for Ford's Asian operations in 2011. Adding insult to injury, Ford also reported a US$95 million loss in Asia for the first quarter of 2012. To make things worse, during the same period, its sales in China declined by 14 percent while both General Motors and VW gained market share.

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1961 Ford galaxy Starliner drag racer, the 1992 ANRA A/FX Champ, and possibly the rpecursor to the Thunderbolt factory Ford super stock dragster

more than pinstriping, an artpiece that defines a companies advertising. Very effing cool

Aussie 1969 Ford Falcon XW GT Wagon Replica up for Grabs

Some will be surprised to know that the ridiculously fast family car is not a creation of the German auto industry that has dominated the segment in the past few decades with models like the Audi RS4/RS6, BMW M3/M5 and Mercedes C63/E63 AMG.

Back in the late 1960s, while American carmakers were obsessed with pony and muscle cars in coupe and convertible forms, Ford's Australian division gave birth to a vehicle that would change the industry: the 1967 Falcon XR GT sports saloon powered by a Mustang-sourced 225bhp 4.7-liter V8.

Holden tried to compete with the four-door Monaro GTS, but it was Ford that ended up creating the world's fastest production saloon in 1971 with the XY Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III propelled by a tuned 351 (5.8-liter) Cleveland V8 with up to 390bhp and a top speed of 250km/h (155mph).

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2013 Ford Shelby GT500 Rated at 662HP Making it the World's Most Powerful Series Production V8

The horsepower wars just got a little bit more interesting as Ford announced the final SAE ratings for the supercharged 5.8-liter V8 engine in the 2013 Shelby GT500.

When the Blue-Oval revealed the Coupe and Convertible versions of the new GT500, it said the force-fed V8 produced an estimated 650 ponies and 600 lb-ft (814Nm) of peak torque, but according to the SAE ratings released by Ford today, the eight-cylinder unit has a peak output of 662-horsepower and 631 lb.-ft. (856Nm) of torque.

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Ford Announces Fuel Economy Ratings for New 2013 Escape, Returns up to 33mpg

The official fuel economy numbers for the redesigned 2013 Ford Escape are in and the news is good for the Blue-Oval as all three of the available engines in the compact crossover achieve 30 mpg (7.8lt/100km) or better on the highway.

In more detail, the Escape's entry-level 168hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine returns 31 mpg on the highway, which is a 3 mpg improvement over the previous model's standard engine, and 22 mpg in the city.

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Design Student Refashions the Ford Taurus Sedan

Having received a mild facelift only a year ago, the current generation of the Ford Taurus sedan that originally debuted at the 2009 Detroit Motor Show isn't due for a redesign for another few years.

Nevertheless, Tyler Bame, a 22-year old automotive design student from Lawrence Tech in Michigan, drew up a couple of sketches that represent his idea for what a next generation of the Taurus sedan could look like.

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Ford to Quietly Pace NASCAR's Richmond 400 Race with Focus EV

Following an announcement earlier this month, Ford officially revealed the 2012 Focus EV that will become the first all-electric pace car to field a NASCAR race at this weekend's Richmond 400.

Ford showed the two Focus Electric pace cars at the Richmond International Raceway. Aside from the prominent decals wrapped around the car and the safety lights on the roof, there is nothing else different from the stock electric Focus.

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Ford of Spain Comes up with an Aroma that Supposedly Makes Used Cars Smell Like New

We all know and love the that new car smell, which scientifically put, is a mixture of all the odors coming from the materials found in brand new vehicles. As time goes by, however, the odors fade away and are replaced by other scents, some of which, aren't as enjoyable…

Ford of Spain went out to capture that new car smell and put it in a bottle as well as on its print advertisements as part of a new campaign for its certified used cars. See how it turned out in the video that follows below.

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Ford Explorer Backs Into Brand New, Hand-Built Sports Car on its First Day Out, NSFW Language Ensues…

What would you do if someone backed into your brand new sports car that you spent months building with your own two hands on the first day you took it out for a spin?

Well, chances are you would freak out, though we do not know how many of you would react in the same way Kevin Patrick did when a Ford Explorer SUV backed into his hand-built Exocet. The young man digressed into an angry series of profanities aimed at the Ford driver.

We'll have to assume that in his fury, Patrick missed the older man with the three children standing across the road…

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Ford Lifts the Veil on Production 2013 EcoSport Small Crossover at the Beijing Auto Show

Only a few months after the debut of the EcoSport Concept at the New Delhi Auto Expo in January, Ford presented the production version of its new small crossover in a world premiere at the Auto China 2012 in Beijing.

Ford's answer to the Nissan Juke will be produced in China, India, Thailand and South America and will be offered in nearly 100 markets globally. The Detroit automaker did not say if the U.S. will be amongst those countries to get the EcoSport, though it is unlikely.

"The new EcoSport is full of personality," said J Mays, head of Ford Motor Company's design division. "Customers around the world immediately recognise its capability and SUV robustness that is achieved with aggressiveness. It is friendly and it’s a vehicle that really makes you smile."

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Ford's Awesomely Cool Parisian Pinball Park Prank

In today's congested cities, people are forced to learn how to park in very tight spaces if they don't want to drive in circles for hours on end, but as you have probably seen time and time again, not all manage to master the art of parking.

To promote the Active Park Assist system found in the new Focus, Ford of Europe set out to find the worst driver when it came to parking in an area of Paris.

The automaker installed a giant pinball over a free parking space flanked by two cars, the ends of which were programmed to react as pinball bumpers every time the driver hit the vehicles. The person with the highest score (i.e. the worst) had the opportunity to try out his or her luck with a Focus equipped with the automatic parking system.

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Spy Shots: Ford Engineers Spotted Testing Galaxy MPV Mule

The third-generation of the Ford Galaxy minivan together with its shorter and lower sibling, the S-Max, have been with us (or so to speak) since 2006 having received a mid-life makeover that introduced a new snout and turbocharged four-cylinder petrol mills at the end of 2009.

All the previous iterations of the Galaxy (the seven-seater S-Max is a new addition to the range) were offered in Europe for a period of six years or less before being replaced by a new model, which means that the time for Ford to present a successor is almost here.

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Ford Focuses on China, will Build $760 Million Plant to Double Annual Capacity to 1.2 Million Units

There's no denying that the Chinese car market is a top priority for the entire automotive industry, which explains the huge investments made by all companies.

In an attempt to improve its position in the market and catch up with rival carmakers General Motors and the Volkswagen Group, Ford Motor Co. announced on Thursday that together with its joint venture Changan Ford Mazda Automobile (CFMA), it is investing $760 million (€578 million) to build a new factory in in Hangzhou, eastern China.

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