News & Reviews- Make: Ford

Energi is Ford-speak for "plug-in hybrid", a name it's only given to two vehicles thus far, the C-Max Energi and this Fusion Energi. Two plug-in models, however, is one more than main competitor Toyota offers, while the domestic brand's Focus EV means that it's also ahead of the Japanese brand when it comes to 100-percent electrics.

Interestingly, there isn't a global brand that offers more plug-in models than the blue-oval, while Ford also makes a couple of regular hybrids, and even more importantly from an environmental perspective, its full lineup of cars, crossovers and trucks offer some of the cleanest, most fuel-efficient direct-injected and turbocharged gasoline powerplants in the industry, along with innovative dual-clutch and multi-speed manual and automatic transmissions. They've also got renewable bio-diesels running around Europe, trucks and vans powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), while the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle I Read Full Story

When it comes to rewriting the book on the truck industry, Ford has been leading the charge. The only thing more revolutionary than this new F-150 pickup truck is the Detroit plant it gets built in. Green is an understatement unless you're looking at the grass and shrubbery its roof is covered in, designed to give back part of what it takes away from the environment. The truck itself is the first of its kind to be produced almost entirely of aluminum, while the engine in the model being reviewed here is the first four-cylinder I can remember ever being offered in a modern-day full-size pickup truck.

While lighter than its predecessor, powered by a more efficient lineup of engines, and therefore easier on your pocketbook day-to-day, it's no less rugged looking or all-round capable than the truck that came before. Take a look at the front end and you'll see a grille that must be the largest in F-150 history, while unlike some in the industry this one's not trying to look like a Read Full Story

There's no better example of change in today's automotive segment than within the full-size sport utility segment, and I'm not referring to the vehicles themselves, per se, but rather the lack of them on our roads. Some look at vehicles like Ford's Expedition as throwbacks to a distant era, and as far as upwardly mobile moms using them for shuttling kids to and from school or dance classes and hockey practices, or lone drivers behind the wheel commuting to work, they're a rarer sight these days than they were from the late '80s through to the early '00s. Their full-size family hauling and trailer pulling capability still serves a very real and important purpose, however, and therefore big SUVs remain important components of many mainstream volume brands' ever-expanding product portfolios.

Ford has been producing its Expedition since 1997, and through three generations it's morphed considerably in shape and styling yet remained spot on target regarding its comfortably utile mission. Read Full Story

Ford enjoyed its best year of Escape sales ever in 2014, with 306,212 sold in the US and 52,198 finding new homes here in Canada. While the US total looks more impressive, Ford of Canada's accomplishment was a much more significant feat. First off, on a per capita basis the Canadian consumer take-rate should be closer to 30,000 units, not 50,000-plus being that Canada has roughly 10 percent the population of the US. Even more impressive, the Escape ranks second in popularity south of the 49th, handily beaten by the Honda CR-V's 335,019 sales last year, but a shocking 14,514 more Canadian compact crossover buyers chose the Escape over the CR-V in 2014. The gap widens further when comparing Toyota's RAV4 or Nissan's Rogue, the two next most popular compact CUVs available.

Also notable is just how much the Escape has grown in popularity over the last decade, its 2004 numbers just 183,430 in the US and 20,360 in Canada. A similar trend can be seen with its rivals, albeit lacking Read Full Story

If you've got a craving for thrilling performance in a relatively inexpensive subcompact hatchback package you don't have too many cars to choose from. There's the quintessential Mini Cooper S and even more entertaining JCW version, now available in unorthodox five-door trim, the even more radical Fiat 500 Abarth that'll quickly snarl and blat its way into any performance enthusiast's heart, and the absolutely amazing Ford Fiesta ST, a car that demonstrates just how capable the blue oval gang can be when producing performance cars.

Just one look lets you know this isn't just any run of the mill Fiesta. The base car's lofty Aston Martin lookalike grille gets tossed aside for a more original opening featuring a sportier gloss black mesh insert, racy red ST badging, and a deep F1 wing-inspired air dam incorporating circular fog lamps at each corner, the look a great deal more enticing than the base car's exoticar wannabe appearance. Don't get me wrong, we all found humour in old Read Full Story