Official: Step Right Up: NHTSA announces list of 2012 models to be tested

Filed under: Government/Legal , Safety The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a list of 74 vehicles for the 2012 model year that it plans on crash testing. The vehicles include 42 passengers cars, 22 SUVs, eight trucks and two vans. NHTSA claims the list represents about 81 percent of the 2012 model year vehicles that will be on sold in the U.S., and further claims it will be performing rollover tests on 92 percent of the 2012 fleet. You may remember that NHTSA released the first round of results from its new, tougher crash tests in October 2010, and that first batch of vehicles didn’t fare too well

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Official: Step Right Up: NHTSA announces list of 2012 models to be tested

Report: New Ford Focus ST headed for Paris

Filed under: Performance , Paris Motor Show , Hatchback , Ford 2012 Ford Focus – Click above for high-res image gallery As the launch of the 2012 Focus draws closer, Ford plans to roll out several variants of its C-segment people mover. And at this year’s Paris Motor Show , the Blue Oval will reportedly kick off the party with the debut of a new Focus ST which could finally make its way to America next year. The Focus ST is expected to be propelled by an uprated version of the 2.0-liter Ecoboost inline-four – the same mill fitted to the Euro-market Mondeo – but with output boosted well over the current 200 horsepower. In ST trim the engine should produce about 250 hp and close to 260 pound-feet of torque, with all that twist coming in low in the rev range to balance high-revving fun with enhanced around-town driveability.

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Report: New Ford Focus ST headed for Paris

Ford to expand electric and hybrid offerings to Europe from 2011

Filed under: Hybrid , Geneva Motor Show , Technology , Ford , Electric Ford Transit Connect Electric – Click above for high-res image gallery Ford has big plans for electrification of its fleet over the next decade, and while most of the emphasis has been on North America so far, Europe will be joining in on the party starting in 2011. Nancy Gioia has announced that between 2011 and 2013, Ford of Europe will get five new hybrid and battery electric models added to its lineup. About six to nine months after each of the new models rolls out in North America, they will be introduced in Europe.

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Ford to expand electric and hybrid offerings to Europe from 2011