Study: Why CAFE changes could lead to larger cars, not smaller ones

Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal , Technology A study by the University of Michigan shows that auto manufacturers could meet tougher fuel economy standards simply by increasing the size of the vehicles they sell. A “footprint-based” formula for calculating mileage targets was adopted when Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards were revised in 2007 . Researchers now think this could lead to bigger vehicles on the road rather than increases in fuel economy for our nation’s fleet. “It’s cheaper to make large vehicles, and meeting fuel-economy standards costs [manufacturers] money in implementing and looking at what consumers will purchase,” one of the researchers told Automotive News

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Study: Why CAFE changes could lead to larger cars, not smaller ones

Infographic: Ford Super Duty shows off market share in the workplace

Filed under: Truck , Marketing/Advertising , Work , Ford Use your truck for work? Chances are good, according to Ford , that truck is an F-Series Super Duty proudly wearing a Blue Oval on the massive front grille. Perhaps that shouldn’t come as too big a surprise, considering that Ford has sold 4.1 million Super Duty pickups since 1998, which, Ford is happy to point out, is enough trucks to wrap around all 16,000 miles of the Australian coast.

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Infographic: Ford Super Duty shows off market share in the workplace

Official: Plug-in hybrid Ford F-Series Super Duty trucks coming in 2013

Filed under: Hybrid , Truck , Technology , Work , Ford , Diesel Azure Dynamics has signed an agreement with Ford , whereby the Oak Park, MI firm will integrate its plug-in hybrid technology into Ford’s F-Series Super Duty trucks. Working in collaboration with Ford, Azure’s plug-in hybrid technology will debut on the F-550 Super Duty chassis cab in early 2013. This agreement also allows for Azure to perform plug-in hybrid powertrain conversions on all available configurations of Ford’s F-350 and F-450 trucks. Azure says that roughly two-thirds of its plug-in hybrid system will be applicable for all Super Duty configurations, with approximately one-third needing to be powertrain-specific (i.e

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Official: Plug-in hybrid Ford F-Series Super Duty trucks coming in 2013

Motor Trend Truck of the Year? The 2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD

Filed under: Truck , Marketing/Advertising , Work , Chevrolet , GM GM CEO Dan Akerson being presented Motor Trend’s 2011 Truck of the Year award Motor Trend is following up its somewhat controversial decision to crown the Chevrolet Volt as its 2011 Car of the Year with a safer call for its 2011 Truck of the Year award. The 2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD was announced as the magazine’s TOTY during a ceremony before the 111th Army-Navy Game at Philadelphia ‘s Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday, giving General Motors’ volume brand a pair of golden calipers to crow about all next year. Chevy’s heavy-duty version of its Silverado pickup truck was significantly upgraded this year, though it faced a tough pair of competitors in the equally improved 2011 GMC Sierra HD and the also-upgraded 2011 Ford F-Series Super Duty .

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Motor Trend Truck of the Year? The 2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD

SEMA 2010: Ford’s 2011 Mustang rolls in with a deep crew

Filed under: Aftermarket , Concept Cars , SEMA Show , Convertible , Coupe , Ford , Design/Style Custom 2011 Mustangs at the SEMA Show – Click above for high-res image gallery We’ve seen Explorers , Fiestas and even an F-Series Super Duty , but of course, the car with the biggest showing on Ford ‘s SEMA stand is the Mustang . In fact, the automaker is displaying nine examples of its pony car, showing a wide range of customization options. Starting things off in-house, Ford has provided us with a glimpse of what is possible through its Vehicle Personalization program. The VP ‘Stang wears wheels, rear window louvers, a rear spoiler and a handful of other items that are all for sale at FordAccessoriesStore.com .

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SEMA 2010: Ford’s 2011 Mustang rolls in with a deep crew

Ford F-150 gets in on the SEMA fun

Filed under: Aftermarket , SEMA Show , Truck , Ford Ford has a history of showing off some wild concepts at SEMA , and this year the company has partnered with six different aftermarket companies to unveil a slew of F-Series concepts worked up just for SEMA 2010 . The trucks range from slammed machines from the likes of Godfather Customs and The Custom Shop to a rock-crawling behemoth built by the minds at Mickey Thompson. There’s even a mobile pit station based on the F-150′s big brother, F-350. That machine has been built by Cars by Kris and Airhead Kustoms.

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Ford F-150 gets in on the SEMA fun