Joe Hinrichs is the newest executive of Ford Motor Co. As such, Ford family expects a lot from him. He faces big challenges and he has the burden of surpassing Ford’s expectations.

Hinrichs spent grew up in the small, blue-collar town of Fostoria. With a 4.0, he graduated as valedictorian of his Catholic high school. Then, he went to the University of Dayton on a president’s scholarship. He pursued MBA at Harvard University. After that, he was absorbed into the auto industry. Hinrichs was a former engineer of General Motors Corp. factory way back in 1989. He transferred to Ford Motor Co. in 2000. He transported Ford’s transmission parts from one plant to another. Since coming to Ford in 2000, he’s had six promotions.

Now, at the age of 40, Hinrichs is the youngest vice president at Ford. He is charged with extensive North American manufacturing operations of the automaker. He supervises 42 Ford factories in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

It is apparent that Ford is riding on rocky and troubled terrains of the automotive world. This fact alone is a big challenge to the young executive. “Next year will be one of the most challenging years that I’ve ever seen, at Ford or anywhere,” Hinrichs said.

Hinrichs to-do list for 2007 includes the closure of 4 plants and the preparation to close 3 more in 2008, keep reduction costs in plants, help launch five new cars and trucks, and execute 32,000 hourly buyouts at factories, without compromising safety or quality. According to him, if all that weren’t enough, he will help negotiate a new contract with the UAW.

“Joe has served spaghetti in this plant,” said Jim Buffalo Smythe, who serves on the plant committee for UAW Local 2280. That local represents workers at the Van Dyke Transmission Plant, where Hinrichs started his Ford career. “He’s a very strong leader. Some people just have that. And he has that,” Smythe said. “Joe can talk to anybody — that’s his strength.”

The big challenges Hinrichs faces now are the hardest in his entire career. “Everyone believes that I’ve been very fortunate, and I have been,” Hinrichs noted. “But there’s five or six events that have just been tragic, real setbacks. You have to overcome them.”

This year through September, Ford lost $7 billion and this calls for a swift action. Hinrichs is determined to focus on quality of products to boost trust among consumers. Ford alloy wheels, engines, ergonomics and other performance and safety features as well as effective workflow are the main focus of Hinrichs.

Ford has announced the release of the Ranger Wildtrak Special Edition on this year’s Commercial Vehicle Show.

Spicy colors which include chili orange and passion red, extra equipment and a new engine for Ford’s Ranger Wildtrak once again proved Ford?s good image in the auto mobile market. Already known for strong pulling power and car-like comfort, the new Ranger Wildtrak adds further style and capabilities to the range.

The vehicle also has a new 156PS, 3.0-litre TDCi engine.

To enhance its appearance, the special edition model has rear box rail extensions, a stylish, aerodynamic sports bar, lower sports cladding and tail lamp protectors. Side intake ‘gills’ add to the visual soothing effect. To provide additional differentiation, new integrated door mirror indicators and puddle lamps were set. The Wildtrak decalcomania on the front, side and rear identify the vehicle as a special Ford Ranger.

To make the vehicle more special, the said details were combined with stylish features such new alloy wheels, a new sports front grille, side steps, an aluminum style front over rider and roof rails, an integrated bed liner and a rear protection bar with integrated park distance control.

Seen in the cabin are all-new heated seats in leather and perforated alcantara with orange tricot backing, floor mats with Wildtrak logo, new sports steering wheel, dash-mounted off-road ‘information centre’, premium interior, and foot well lighting. To complete the package, a new Wildtrak scuff plates also come with the Ranger Wildtrak special edition.

The Ford Ranger Wildtrak is available with an exclusive range of unique two-tone colors: Chili Orange or Passion Red combined with Titanium Grey on the lower part of the body for a truly ravishing appearance. However, there are still other body colors that can be combined with Titanium Grey. These are Steel Silver, Andaman Blue, Storm Black and Strato Blue.

A new and powerful 3.0-litre TDCi engine with 156PS and 380Nm of torque is found under the bonnet. A five-speed manual transmission is tuned for fuel economy while maintaining good overtaking capacity.

Steve Kimber, Commercial Vehicles Director of Ford Britain said that the latest Ford Ranger is selling faster than the previous model. With this, he concluded that the new Wildtrak will take Ford deeper into the fiercely competitive pick-up market with a truck that really makes a statement.

Ford assured its customers that the special edition Ranger Wildtrak has special truck parts beyond compared to other trucks.

The Special Edition Ranger Wildtrak will go on sale on August 2007. Pricing will be announced days before the date of its release in the market.

There is probably a transmission shop in almost every town in the country that can build a bulletproof transmission for American made vehicles. Whether it is a late model Mustang or a 60’s Chevelle, there are lots of aftermarket components and many years of technology available for the transmission rebuilder to utilize.

The same cannot be said for the 4EAT automatic transmissions found in Subaru vehicles. In factory form, these transmissions demonstrate several problem areas that can cause failure in as little as 20,000 miles with a stock engine and even sooner in modified applications.

Poor shift quality, anemic factory components, and above all, improperly configured torque converters plague the automatic transmission equipped vehicle. This is in conjunction with the automatic’s propensity to burn out the high clutch pack (third gear) and the 2-4 clutches (second and fourth gear) with even moderate increases in engine output.

Realizing the need to take import and sport compact automatics to their fullest potential, IPT Performance Transmissions- a New Jersey based company, committed a large portion of their research time and dollars toward improving the Subaru automatic transmission.

First up on the hit parade of internal modifications is the need to address the issue of valve body calibration. The valve body mods are really the foundation of any performance trans rebuild. An automatic transmission utilizes a network of valves, servos, solenoids, orifices, accumulators and passages that control and route hydraulic pressure to the appropriate places to apply the clutches and bands.

Without going into elaborate detail which would fall outside the scope of this article, suffice it to say that modifying the valve body effectively changes the rate of clutch apply and also increases the clamping force with which these components have to work with. This is why shift kits and modified valve bodies produce that firm, performance type shift that increases the transmission’s overall capacity for power handling.

Next, all critical support bushings need to be replaced to insure that the centerline of the transmission runs in perfect alignment with the centerline of the crankshaft. Ignoring this step puts a lot of undue stress on the internal transmission components.

Many of the other parts also such as the pinion shaft, the front differential ring gear and the planetary gearset undergo various metallurgical processes such as heat treating, Meta-Lax stress relieving, and cryogenic treatment (freezing them in liquid nitrogen at -300 degrees Fahrenheit to ‘reset’ the part’s structure on the molecular level).

Lastly, all of the required seals and gaskets are changed to materials that are better able to cope with the heat and stress that is common in high powered applications. Performance clutches and steel reaction plates are installed and their clearances set to much more exacting specifications than those that are used by the factory. Most importantly, IPT utilizes a proprietary six disk high clutch pack and a five disk 2-4 clutch pack which increases the second, third, and fourth gear torque capacity by over 25% versus the factory set up- this is the key to getting a high powered vehicle make a 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4 shift instead of just bouncing off the rev limiter.

As for the modifications outside of the gearbox, the next thing of importance is of course the torque converter. In an automatic equipped vehicle, one of the most important components in the entire car in regards to optimizing performance is a correctly configured converter.

In addition to being made with many strength improvements over the factory piece, a performance converter enables a vehicle to better take advantage of the RPM range at which maximum power is made. In simple terms, a properly designed converter will allow a vehicle to launch under more power by increasing the rpm at which the launch takes place. In essence, a torque converter is an infinitely variable transmission in and of itself, and altering its torque multiplying characteristics becomes absolutely necessary when other variables in the vehicle are changed (bigger turbos and bigger cams).

Even in otherwise stock turbocharged Subaru vehicles, ET reductions of over one full second are not at all uncommon with the addition of a properly configured converter.

Transmission, torque converter and valve body upgrades are not only for American made vehicles anymore. Increased performance, durability and more efficient shifting is now available for the vehicles of almost every manufacturer- thanks in part to the few companies that are willing to do the research and development work required for this rapidly growing segment of the automotive aftermarket.

Have you ever noticed how some network marketers are great at getting prospects to go to websites, get on conference calls, and attend meetings? On the other hand it seem like they struggle just to get anyone to listen. Here?s 1 secret to getting people to take action.

Communicate the Benefits NOT the Features

Critical to creating leads for your business is your ability to communicate the benefits of doing business with you. This rule applies to both things you say to people, and marketing that you do. You have to get good at communicating the benefits of your products, your opportunity, your company, and even the benefits of working with you personally.

There are two things that you could talk about. You could talk about the FEATURES of your company, products, or services. Or you could talk about the Benefits of your products, company, or services. The features might describe the product, but the benefit describes what you get out of using that product.

?This hammer is made of the finest steel.? ? That?s a feature.

?This hammer will never wear out, so you?ll never have to buy another one.? ? That?s a benefit.

Don?t talk about all the ingredients of your vitamin; talk about how you started taking it and now you feel better, live healthier, and have more energy.

Don?t talk about how your company is debt free, unless you mention that how that means you don?t every have to worry about getting your paycheck.

Don?t talk about the endless details of your comp plan; talk about you can make a profit in the first week just by taking a few simple steps.

If people take your nutritional products usually don?t really care what it?s made of. What they want is to feel better, or have more energy. No one probably cares who your CEO is, or how many distributors your company has. What they want to know is, are they going to lose money? Is this going to waste a lot of their time? Can I trust this person?

How to Know if You?re Using Features or Benefits

There?s one sure test for knowing if you?re talking about a feature or a benefit. Just ask yourself ?So What?. This company is debt free [So What?], so that means you can rest assured knowing that you?ll always be paid on time.

The Chrysler is an American car making house. The Chrysler has had mixed fortunes and has seen the good and the bad times alike. However the cars that are manufactured at Chrysler continue to be popular among its users. The Chrysler is a renowned car making brand and has lived up to its name by coming up with new cars that were technologically superior to other cars available at that time.

The Chrysler has recently introduced a chip that can comprehensively improve the performance of the car?s engine and hence its speed. This chip is known as the Chrysler performance chip that can be fitted to electronic control unit (ECU) of the car?s engine from where it can carry out the readings. It is a resistor that is fixed to the ITA sensors. Through these chips one can get that extra power and extra speed that he always wanted from his car.

By adding this Chrysler performance chip to your car, you can derive extra 20-50 HP from your engine. It is now conclusively established that almost all engines have some reserve capacity. By using this chip one can get the maximum output and utilize all the reserve energy of the engine. This chip continuously monitors the air-fuel mixture to the engine. By deciding on the exact ratio of the air and fuel the chip helps in improving the performance and speed of the car.

This Chrysler performance chip can be installed in any type of Chrysler vehicle provided that their engine is well maintained. Also the installation of this performance chip is extremely easy and can easily be done by following some simple guidelines from the instruction manual. The only thing needed is a home tool kit to fix the chip on to the car?s engine. If followed carefully, then the installation time will not be more than ten minutes.

However while buying the Chrysler performance chip; one must take care that a certain type of chip can only be installed in a certain model of the car. So you have to choose judiciously from among a gamut of these chips available in the market. Depending on the type of performance chip that you have bought, you can extract twenty to fifty HP more power from the engine. They are so designed that they get extra power from engine. Greater power directly implies that there is a generation of greater torque in your car and hence your car can move faster than before. These chips also closely watch the spark plugs and oxygen sensors. Many of these chips come with additional accessories which when installed can further enhance your car?s performance.

The Chrysler performance chip is a small chip that is fixed to the engine of the car. Such a process does not bring about any changes in the external appearance of the car. This performance chip is a product of extensive research carried out in this field. It is the best way to derive maximum power from the engine. The usage of such chip makes driving a very comfortable experience. These chips are programmable chips. They can be programmed for long as well as shorter drives.

So if it was always your wish to whizz down the roads of your street at very high speeds then this Chrysler performance chip is just for you. With these chips on your car your car will get an over all boost in terms of performance and speed. By installing these chips you can be rest assured of high output power from your engine. So go for this chip now to experience the fun of driving at high speeds.

The 2007 Jeep Wrangler JK has the looks that say ?I?m the biggest thing on the trail?. The JK has a more refined interior and possess better handling characteristics. If we are to guess what Jeep?s guiding principle when it was designing the JK it must be ?MORE? because this particular Jeep has more of everything you can think of like more room, more power, more on-road refinement, more safety, and more convenience.

Here are some of the remarkable features that the JK possess:

1. The chassis of the JK has a two-inch longer wheelbase, a 3.5 inch wider track, with a frame that?s exactly 100 percent solid which is a good thing since it makes the springs and shocks much easier to tune for a better on-road experience.

2. The bigger wheels and tires together with its new electronic axle lockers, an electronic disconnecting front anti-roll bar, and boosts up transfer cases makes the JK even more trail capable.

3. The much longer wheelbase and wider track provides more room for passengers and gears.

4. Its narrowing nose, sloping windshield, and raked grille improves the new Wrangler?s stability and fuel economy.

5. The new Wrangler makes use of different door and roof configurations which can be reconfigured further. Its three-piece Sunrider soft-top is compatible with the factory hardtop pr can be a stand-alone choice.

6. The rear-seat has a fold and tumble feature which enables easy access to a lockable under-floor storage area where small items can be stored. Plus with the rear seats tumbled forward it provides approximately 30 cubic feet of useable storage behind the front seats.

7. The JK is powered by an all-new 3.8 liter OHV V-6 which is made stronger, lighter and more fuel efficient compared to the 4.0 liter I-6 engine that it previously possess. The new V-6 offers 205 horsepower and 240 lb-ft of torque and is estimated to get 17 mpg for city driving and 21 mpg for highway driving. Its highly sophisticated Jeep catalytic converter reduces the level of harmful C02 emissions.

8. In terms of its seven slotted grille it is a prominent feature of Jeep vehicles as well the round headlights. But an option package that includes an integrated foglights and protective skidplates are available for an extra cost of course.

9. JK is also equipped with ESP or Electronic Stability Programme and roll mitigation software to reduce the possibility of rollover. There are also dual-stage front and side-mounted airbags which are designed to lessen impact in case of rollovers.

10. The windshield still fold flat to the hood by simply removing the screws and latches.

At the beginning of the season, few people expected that Chevrolet teams will completely dominate team running Ford, Dodge and Toyota cars. But the early goings of the season saw Chevrolet almost sweeping the top ten in every race. In fact, from the first points race of the season until the Pocono 500, the fourteenth race of the season, only one non-Chevy team has won a race.

That win came at the Auto Club 500, the second points race of the season which was held at the California Speedway. Matt Kenseth driving his Number 17 Ford Fusion won the race for Roush Fenway Racing. After that win though, it was all Chevrolet and it seems that Ford as well as Dodge and Toyota are being totally dominated by Chevrolet teams.

During the past four races though it seems that Ford’s luck is changing as they have won two out of the four races. Dodge has one win and Chevrolet has one. Jamie McMurray recorded Ford’s third win of the season at the Pepsi 400. Aside from winning the race, five Ford drivers made it to the top twelve which means that Ford is slowly gaining on Chevrolet teams.

All three Ford wins are from teams owned by Roush Fenway Racing. Team owner Jack Roush says that the team has underperformed at the start of the season since they have misjudged the amount of time that their competitors are going to spend on testing their vehicles. NASCAR is currently studying whether their testing policies are still being observed and ensures fairness among teams.

The next race of the season will be the USG Sheetrock 400 which will be held at the Chicagoland Speedway. Going into the nineteenth race of the season slated for Sunday, Ford is finally looking as a tough competitor to the Chevrolets fielded by competing teams. Although sharing the same body structure to ensure fairness, the performance of Ford and Chevrolet NASCAR cars vary due to their setup and whatnot. The revitalized Ford teams are now fielding cars which can outrun a Ford hubcap-equipped road bound Ford Fusion.

“The big thing that has helped us with the Car of Tomorrow is we now have a test team,” said Roush explaining their recent resurgence. “We are doing the things I thought we weren’t going to be allowed to do when NASCAR told us we couldn’t take tires from the racetrack because they didn’t want us to test. I thought they would put teeth in that, but they didn’t.”

“We got behind. But five weeks ago I hired six people and dedicated a tractor-trailer (for testing). We’ve been to Iowa, Milwaukee four times in the last month, and Road Atlanta and VIR (Virginia International Raceway).”

The three wins posted by Roush Fenway Racing came at races where the current template for cars is used. But in order for them to be a real threat to Chevrolet teams, they have to perform well at Car of Tomorrow (CoT) races. The CoT template will be the only template that will be used for the next season and Ford is still working on improving their CoT.

“We’re not caught up yet,” said Roush pertaining to the CoT. “But we’re certainly on the path, and we’ll be heard from more before the year is over.”

Cars are one of the most cherished possessions that every individual own. We all try to make them look sexier to stand out from the crowd. The best way to make your car work better and look better is only possible by fitting it with high performance car parts like hks performance parts.

Most of people do not have any idea where to start when seeking a new addition to their vehicle. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that you are buying high performance car parts from experts in the field or a renowned company like HKS. High performance car parts are suggested to be used to make you car run faster and sound better. HKS is a publicly traded automotive accessory company headquartered in Japan that was formed in 1973.

HKS offers a wide variety of high performance car parts such as HKS Air Filters, Exhaust Components, Mufflers, Turbo Timer, Air Intake, Blow Off Valve, Cam Gears, Camshafts, Cat-Back Exhaust, Coil Overs, Downpipe etc. Choosing the HKS high performance parts for your darling car can boost life into it.

No wonder HKS high performance parts are best but when we talk about fuel injectors that give more power to your vehicle?s engine, NISMO injectors are the best injectors around. There are many companies that manufacture fuel injectors but Nismo injectors are excellent as they boost the efficiency of your automobile. NISMO injectors are designed by Nissan International Motorsport. You do not need to modify these injectors to fit into your vehicle?s engine as complementary modifications like up rated fuel pump and aftermarket ECU mapping are required.

Who would not like to see his/ her car to be the best and in budget. Remodeling of cars to become something brand new is another trend. Buy any used or new model of an automobile and let great engineers remodel it as per your requirement with high performance parts for better functioning; you will feel that you own something which was beyond your reach.

Whenever you purchase a new high performance car part remember to check its copyright logo, originality and seal. In case seal is open do accept any product as it can be a case of fraudulence.

To put a traffic-generating MasterMind team together, you need to choose the right people, establish guidelines for your group and meet on a consistent basis.

First, you have to decide how many people you want to collaborate with and what kind of people you are looking for. Ideally, you should form a group of 5-8 people, 12 max. This size group gives everyone a chance to be heard and is more practical as far as scheduling goes. But keep in mind that masterminding with just one other person can reap huge benefits.

Before you begin recruiting, you need to know what kind of people you are looking for. Simply being aware of the characteristics you want those in your group to possess will help attract the right people to you. The kind of people who can help you devise ways to bring traffic to your site are:

–Action-oriented, motivated and ambitious.

–Committed to their success and the success of the group.

–Willing to share their ideas.

–Open-minded and interested in learning new things.

–Always striving to improve themselves and their situations.

Your family, friends and colleagues could make great MasterMind partners as long as they share the above-mentioned characteristics. But some of the best people to work with are those you meet at seminars. You can also ask those you respect in your industry to join you.

Wherever you look, challenge yourself to seek out those with different personalities and skill sets. The more diverse you are in those areas, the more successful the group will be as a whole.

When you have a solid group of diverse yet likeminded people together, establish group guidelines. You need to know what you want to get out of the MasterMind and be able to tell those who are joining what they can expect to get out of the partnership of ideas as well.

The first choice you need to make is whether the group will be dedicated to improving your business or to providing assistance for each participant.

Andrew Carnegie, for instance, brought people together for the sole purpose of implementing his personal vision. None of the 50 men discussed their own projects because all were focused on building a steel empire.

To create this type of group, you need a strong vision like Carnegie had, one that all members of your group can buy into with passion and enthusiasm. Since they won’t directly benefit from the MasterMind, they need to see the bigger picture of how their contribution to your business will benefit others. Creating the type of group where the members meet to support each other is easier and more common because it’s an equal win-win for all involved.

After deciding which type of group to develop, you must decide how your MasterMind will operate. Following these guidelines will make your group as productive as possible:

1. Decide how often you will meet: weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Also set a certain day of the week and time for each meeting.

2. Agree how long each meeting will last: one hour, two hours or three hours. Then be sure to honor the time limit.

3. Determine the best way to meet: online chat, teleconference or location (if you’re all local).

4. All members must agree to respect each other and maintain a high level of integrity.

5. Require attendance and participation. This prevents people from only showing up and participating when they have a problem. It also establishes a sense of trust in that everyone can rely on each other to show up and contribute their ideas.

6. Allow only one person to speak at a time, and speak with the understanding that everything spoken to the group stays with the group. Knowing that everything discussed remains confidential allows for the free-flowing of ideas and information.

7. The discussions must remain focused on the task at hand to make each meeting worthwhile. “Rabbit trails” only waste everyone’s time.

Once you have a team together and the groundwork set, start meeting. At the beginning of each meeting, give participants an opportunity to share an update. Find out what each has accomplished since the last meeting and what each would like to discuss during the current meeting.

Then allot a certain amount of discussion time for each person. Throw out problems to the group and brainstorm solutions. Or just pose a question like “What can I do to generate more traffic?” Listen and record the ideas that come pouring in from your MasterMind partners.

At the conclusion of the meeting, give participants another chance to share. This time, have each person state the things they want to achieve before you all meet again.

You can choose to vary your format in whatever way works best for your group. For example, you can focus on only one person/business per meeting. Whatever you choose, make sure you remain focused on your overall goal: to grow your business. By remaining focused on that goal, your MasterMind team will help you design and discover ways to generate massive amounts of traffic.

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Kia Autogroup set the standard for reliability in 1999 when it introduced it’s 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty on all car models on top of its already generous 5-year/60,000-mile coverage of almost all components.

In recent years, Chrysler has been making a slow comeback with 67 percent of surveyed models scoring average or better in predicted reliability. In fact, Steven Landry, Executive Vice President of North American Sales for Chrysler, is fond of telling people that dealer feedback reinforced what they were seeing internally that Chrysler’s recent fleet is the best quality they had ever seen. Faced with declining consumer confidence in American automotive manufacturing and an eroding customer base, Chrysler decided to raise the bar and issue its own benchmark warranty to lure buyers back to Detroit. “We decided to add ‘lifetime’ to our warranty as a service to our customer” says Patti Georgevich, Global Service & Communication Manager for Chrysler. Will consumers take the bait?

Devil in the details

The lifetime warranty begins at the end of the 3-year/36,000-mile Basic Limited Warranty and covers the engine, transmission, and drive systems. Chrysler is quick to point out those parts are the most costly to repair, but they neglect to mention that they’re also the parts least likely to break.

As always, you need to read the fine print. Before you get excited about stress-testing your Dodge Ram SRT-10, note that all cars are covered by the warranty. Chrysler excludes all hybrids and SRT models from the lifetime coverage. If you’re trying to save a few bucks by buying a used Jeep, stash those savings in a safe place in the event you need to fix the engine timing. Like the Hyundai 10-year warranty, Chrysler’s lifetime warranty applies only to the original owner of the car and is non-transferable to subsequent owners.

If you have a hard time remembering your anniversary or mother’s birthday, perhaps this isn’t the best deal for you. The only caveat for maintaining the warranty is that the powertrain must be inspected by an authorized Chrysler, Jeep, or Dodge dealer ‘free of charge’ every five years within 60 days of the purchase date. This means that if forget to have the car inspected, the warranty is void.

And the lifetime powertrain warranty isn’t a license to skip oil changes or run your engine into the ground? the warranty requires that you properly maintain your vehicle according to the Scheduled Maintenance Guidelines in the owner’s manual. The provisions stop short of requiring documentation of all repairs. But if you need a new transmission around the 80,000 mile mark, you might end up in a he-said/she-said confrontation. The good news is that Chrysler does not mandate service or repairs be performed at a Chrysler dealership. The bad news is that if the damage appears to be a result of improper maintenance and you can’t back up your claim with documentation, you’re on the hook for a new transmission.

Too much of a good thing?

Cars typically have a 3-year/36,000-mile or 4-year/50,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. Coincidentally, owners keep new cars on average for five and a half years. Not long after the warranty expires and the car starts breaking down, owners tend to sell the car for a newer model. Which begs the question, is a lifetime warranty really necessary?

And even if you’re the type to drive a car until the wheels fall off, powertrains are typically the last to go. So while it may be a good idea to keep your detailed service records, they may be moot. “If you follow all recommended service and maintenance,” says Ms. Georgevich, “our vehicles should last a very, very long time.”

While it’s too soon to see if the warranty will entice more customers or end up being a costly mistake, it’s easy to see how it makes for good marketing.