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Archives for January 2016

Mustang and F-150 Are Award Winners

January 29, 2016 By Matthew Hritz Leave a Comment

The Ford Mustang and Ford F-150 are winners of a 2016 Most Popular on Edmunds.com Award.

Ford’s iconic pony car was tops among entry-level sports cars, while the toughest, smartest, most capable F-150 ever won for large trucks.

Most Popular on Edmunds.com awards are decided by the Edmunds audience, based on which vehicles are most researched. The awards reflect what car buyers are focused on purchasing, and show Mustang and F-150 are top of mind.

Filed Under: Lamarque Ford Tagged With: 2016, Award Winners, Awards, Edmunds, f-150, Ford, Ford F-150, Ford Mustang, Most Popular, mustang, winners

2017 Ford Models

January 29, 2016 By Matthew Hritz Leave a Comment

Even as the new year begins, there’s no better feeling than having things to look forward to-which is why we’re so excited to announce what we have to look forward to in 2017:

2017 ESCAPE
Available Spring 2016
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For 2017, Escape boasts a bold new style, starting with a confident grille, sculpted hood and daring stance. A host of new, features include a new center console with convenient media bin to stow all your tech essentials, plus ample storage capacity. The Available SYNC®3 has the great standard SYNC features plus new hardware, new software and a new easy-to-use design. The addition of available Auto Start-Stop Technology can help reduce fuel consumption and vehicle emissions during city driving. For 2017, Escape offers three exhilarating engine options: the standard 2.5L iVCT I-4 engine, the available 1.5L EcoBoost® engine and the available 2.0L EcoBoost engine.

2017 RAPTOR
Available Fall 2016
2017Raptor_large
The next-generation 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor was unveiled at the 2015 North American International Auto Show. For Raptor fans, it was the star of the show. Powered by an all-new 3.5L EcoBoost® engine, the 2017 Raptor has high-strength, military-grade, aluminum alloy in its body and bed, and weighs 500 lbs. less than the 2014 Raptor. Other features include larger FOX Racing Shox,™ standard 17-inch BFGoodrich® T/A KO all-terrain RWL tires designed specifically for Raptor and a new standard torque-on-demand transfer case.

FORD GT
Available Late 2016
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This is what game‐changing innovation looks like. This edition of the Ford GT is what happens when you tell the best automotive engineers in the world not just to push the envelope, but to bust right through it. From its twin‐turbocharged 3.5L EcoBoost® V6 engine projected to produce over 600 hp to its aerodynamically optimized carbon‐fiber fuselage, every aspect of the Ford GT screams innovation. This is how far truly inspired automotive engineering can take you. And how fast.

2017 SUPER DUTY
Available Late 2016
superduty2017_large
The all-new 2017 Super Duty was introduced at the 2015 Texas State Fair. It’s the toughest, smartest, most capable Ford Super Duty ever. Why? Because the weight savings from the high-strength, military-grade, aluminum alloy body have been reinvested in the places that matter most. The frame is fully-boxed, with through-welded cross members. And engineered for extremes, with 6 times more high-strength steel and up to 24 times stiffer. Bigger, stronger, and more capable axles. Upgraded suspension and steering for better ride and handling. Upgraded powertrains with more torque than ever. Bigger brakes for better stopping. And the hitches are bigger and stronger to handle larger loads.

2017 CHASSIS CLUB
Available Late 2016
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The all-new 2017 Super Duty Chassis Cab was introduced at the 2015 Texas State Fair. It’s the ultimate in upfitting. No other truck offers you this many configuration options with this easy an upfit. With more towing, more payload and higher GCWR, it’s the most capable Super Duty ever. As jobs get more demanding, it’s good to know your Super Duty can unleash the right amount of fury from under the hood with upgraded powertrains. The frame is fully boxed under the cab and C-Channel behind the cab. Providing better safety, better ride, and handling, and is still as adaptable as ever for easier upfitting.

If you’re looking to purchase any of these 2017 Ford models, contact Lamarque Ford today!

Filed Under: Lamarque Ford Tagged With: 2017, chassis club, Ford, ford escape, ford gt, Ford Raptor, ford super duty, models

Mustafa Koc, Ford’s Biggest European Partner, Has Died

January 29, 2016 By Matthew Hritz Leave a Comment

Mustafa Koc, the head of Turkey’s massive conglomerate Vehbi Koc, has died yesterday of a heart attack. He was 55 years old.

The group of companies accounted for roughly 5% of Turkey’s GDP. In addition, he carried on his father’s (the founder) business partnership in Ford. Ford has seen particularly significant growth all around Europe, and its relationship with V.K. has certainly helped propel its popularity in Southeast Europe and Western Asia.

Bill Ford, Ford Motor Company’s executive chairman, released the following statement regarding the passing of Mr. Koc:

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Mustafa Koc and extend our deepest condolences to his entire family. Mustafa was an outstanding business leader, a man of true integrity and a loyal friend and partner to Ford over many decades. He also was a very close personal friend. His family and mine have a special relationship that goes back to Henry Ford and Vehbi Koc. I will miss him personally and professionally.”

Filed Under: Lamarque Ford

What Is Happening To Gas Prices?

January 27, 2016 By Matthew Hritz Leave a Comment

Whether it appears as a top headline for every news outlet, or the signs next to gas stations everywhere, you probably noticed that gas prices have hit a downward spiral lately. And, boy, a gallon is really, really cheap. The Southeast region, which includes Louisiana, also features the Gulf of Mexico as a next-door neighbor. So Louisiana’s gas prices have traditionally been among the lowest on average compared to all other states.

But this is different. You could purchase a gallon of gasoline, aka a liquid with the capability of taking you 10-25 miles, for the same price as (or occasionally even less than) a single bottle of water. Now, why is this happening?

Over the past few years, the U.S. began to produce more and more of its oil domestically (and importing from Canada), therefore curbing its reliance on importing from international producers such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran. South American nations, particularly Mexico and Brazil, have the same story. This has come at an enormous cost to international countries that once thrived off exporting to nations such as America, but that’ve now lost that (and other) major piece of business.

So, demand reduced, and in order to keep prices at equilibrium, so should production. However, none of these countries are curbing their operations- they’ve decided that they’d rather take the hits of high production costs than lose market share. These international countries are essentially in a battle with each other-and because they’re all continuing to produce mass amounts, we now have an enormous oil surplus. Low demand + high supply= lower prices.

And as we’ll dive into soon, this phenomenon has a great amount of winners, and a great amount of losers.

Filed Under: Lamarque Ford

Gas Prices: Its Winners and Losers

January 27, 2016 By Matthew Hritz Leave a Comment

Long story short, gas prices have plummeted over the past few months due to an international production glut and stagnated demand. As always, low oil/gas prices has its winners and losers:

WINNERS:
-The middle/lower class- gas prices are always a tricky expense for those within low-to-average income brackets. For those driving every day, spending less and less money on gas during every pump visit will add up to relatively significant savings over a period of time.
-Convenience/mega-stores- Savings compiled from spending less on gas, especially for the middle/lower class, are often spent on food and other necessities at stores such as Target, Walmart, Wallgreens, CVS, and 7-11.
-Airlines- lower gas prices are a significant operations expense for airlines, making gas prices a factor in setting price-points for plane tickets. When prices are this low, airlines get to lower their airfares, which leads to more travelers, which leads to both lower operating costs and higher revenues for airlines.
-Frequent air-travelers and drivers- for the same reasons already listed above.

LOSERS:
-Stock traders/investors- the stock markets have gotten crushed lately over plummeting oil prices. The DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) hemmoraged nearly 10% of its value over a disastrous 2 weeks in the stock market. This could also mean trouble for 401k account holders who invest their savings in publicly traded companies.
-Southeastern economies/ oil industry- in states such as the southeast, where the oil industry remains a large part of its economies, lower gas prices (lower oil prices), causing less revenue for oil companies, usually means large lay-offs for the sake of lowering production costs, whose effects tend to trickle down to other industries in those states.

Filed Under: Lamarque Ford

Self-Driving Cars In the Works

January 27, 2016 By Matthew Hritz Leave a Comment

Self-driving vehicles are certainly not ready for the road just yet, but they are quickly getting there. So how long until we all have our own personal chauffeur vehicle? Business insider predicts 10 million self driving cars will be on the road by the year 2020. But are these vehicles ready for the hustle and bustle of rush hour traffic, the delicacy of school zones and the every so tricky decision to run through or stop short at a yellow light?

These automobiles are still in prototype phase, but don’t be disappointed, there may be cars in nearby neighborhoods with self driving features that have gone unrecognized, until now.

Parallel parking
Intelligent parking assist was first released to the public in 2003 and it quickly led to further innovations. The first system was designed to allow vehicles to parallel park themselves without any input from the driver, simply pull up to the desired parking spot and let parking assist do the rest. The success of this autonomous maneuvering feature inspired most major manufacturers to implement their own similar features into their vehicles. Parking assist can now park your car parallel, angled or perpendicular to the road. An unreleased program claims to have developed a fully automated parking assist that can be activated from a smartphone or smartwatch, allowing the driver to exit the vehicle and essentially valet park their own vehicle.

Blind spot recognition
Checking your blind spots is an essential of every day driving practice. This can make or break the success of your merging efforts, so what happens if you think your blind spot is empty and you try merging into someone else? This happens all too often, and luckily this problem has been addressed and solved. In 2007 the Blind Spot Information System was released to the public, it offered the ability to check the vehicle’s blind spots and use a small light indicator to inform the driver of a potential obstacle in the blind spot. This feature was taken a step further, and can now prevent the driver from merging lanes if the software detects an obstruction in the way. This automated feature has undoubtedly removed a significant amount of human error collisions.

Collision aversion
Blind spot collisions aren’t the only accidents vehicles can prevent automatically. Collision warning systems along with brake support have the ability to stop the car if the driver is unable to do so, or unaware of the surroundings. Sensors and monitors in vehicles have the ability to recognize if the car ahead of you has made a sudden stop or change in speed, the system can then alert the driver via audio and visual indicators, and even stop itself if the driver does not react. This has proven successful in reducing rear end collisions as well as back up collisions.

Although these autonomous vehicles have the ability to prevent some human error, they are not flawless and remain as test subjects. Having our own personal chauffeur vehicle may not be right around the corner, but our cars are beginning to drive themselves more and more with each new model release.

Filed Under: Lamarque Ford Tagged With: cars, Ford, future, prototypes, self driving

TRY THIS ON FOR SIZE: Ford’s Infallible Fabric

January 27, 2016 By Matthew Hritz Leave a Comment

Throughout a vehicle’s lifetime, it’s inevitable that the materials inside a car show signs of wear and tear. Imagine the frequent sitting on car seats, leaning on arm rests, gripping the steering wheel and fiddling with the instruments. So what does Ford do to help make sure all vehicles are up to this challenge?

To help guarantee the durability of these fabrics, leathers and plastics, Ford engineers subject every material used inside Ford vehicles to a series of meticulous and unrelenting tests where they are stretched, scratched, snagged, sniffed and even splashed with the likes of grease, dirt and hot coffee, to see how they will stand up against the test of time.

These tests are done to help ensure it takes a lot more than a spilled cup of coffee, the graze of a sharp edge or any accidental scrapes and scuffs to break down these materials. In addition, a team of examiners smell various samples of materials used inside Ford vehicles and rank them to help the engineers achieve interiors that are free of disturbing odors.

The meticulous nature of these tests is a testament to Ford’s unwavering commitment to delivering quality vehicles that remain at their peak throughout the long cycle of their lives to customers and going the extra mile to ensure standards of comfort and durability are met.



Filed Under: Lamarque Ford Tagged With: car durability, car test, car upholstery, Ford, ford interior, interior fabric

Smart Phone + Smart Car = GENIUS ALERT

January 21, 2016 By Matthew Hritz Leave a Comment

Ford is expanding its SYNC® connectivity system, adding Apple CarPlay, Android Auto™, 4G LTE and several new AppLink™ apps to help millions of consumers stay connected behind the wheel and even when they are away from their cars.

“SYNC allows customers to bring the smartphone technology they’re comfortable with into a vehicle and use it without hassle,” said Don Butler, Ford executive director, Connected Vehicle and Services. “With SYNC, we move at our customers’ pace – making it easy for them to maintain a connected lifestyle no matter their choice of smartphone, apps or services inside and outside their vehicle.”

With more than 15 million SYNC-equipped vehicles on roads around the world today and 43 million expected by 2020, Ford’s industry-leading communications and entertainment technology is offering customers even more connectivity. Connectivity is one part of Ford Smart Mobility, the plan to take the company to the next level in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience, and data and analytics.

Apple CarPlay
Apple CarPlay is compatible with iPhone 5 and later models. It works by plugging in the iPhone via USB, then the CarPlay interface appears on the touch screen. Apple CarPlay features Siri voice control, and seamlessly integrates an iPhone with the car’s built-in display and controls.

The integration makes it easy to make phone calls, access music, send and receive messages, get directions optimized for traffic conditions and other features – all while keeping your eyes on the road.

Android Auto
Users of Android devices 5.0 and higher can bring their smartphone experience into their vehicle safely and easily. Convenient information, including Google Maps, Google Play Music and apps are projected onto the SYNC screen, offering seamless integration of the smartphone into the car. Google voice search answers any questions customers may have also while on the road.

SYNC: Nearly a decade of connectivity leadership
Ford SYNC is the world’s leading in-car entertainment and communications system, with more than 15 million vehicles on the road worldwide.

Launched in 2007, Ford SYNC was the industry’s first system to widely and most affordably offer voice-activated technology to control smartphones. The latest-generation system – SYNC 3 – features all-new hardware and software for faster performance, more conversational voice recognition, a smartphone-like touch screen, and easier-to-understand graphical interface for a growing number of Ford vehicles in North America.

Filed Under: Lamarque Ford Tagged With: android auto, apple car, car technology, Ford, ford sync, Ford Sync 3, ford technology, iphone ford, smartphones, SYNC

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