The Dearborn-based automaker Ford Motor Company lost $12.7 billion last year – the most that they have lost in the company?s long and quite so colorful history. The company has even sold the ultra-luxury brand Aston Martin to bolster its sagging coffers. And now it is in the process of selling the two British brands in the Premiere Automotive Group (PAG) – Jaguar and Land Rover.

For the near future though, FoMoCo is looking to increase their shrinking market share in the United States auto market. The company hopes to increase its market share by offering a revitalized lineup for the 2008 model year. The company will be offering the revived and redesigned Ford Taurus and the production of which has just started. Aside from the Taurus, Ford?s 2008 model year lineup also includes redesigned crossover SUVs. Crossovers are now considered the most sought after vehicle in the market.

According to Ford?s president of the Americas, Mark Fields, the company is aiming to take about 14 to 15 percent of the local auto market. The past years has seen the market share of the car manufacturer reduced as Japanese rivals increased sales in the United States. Toyota, Honda and Nissan are all expanding their offerings for the United States auto market and Ford needs to counter it by offering new and competitive cars.

According to Fields, the company?s share of the market today is about 15.3 percent. This means that one goal in their ?Way Forward? has already been achieved and now they are looking to stabilize that share in the largest auto market in the world. At an event at Ford?s Dearborn testing facility where new Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles were showcased, Fields has this to say: ?We really are starting to deliver products that people will want.?

Aside from the Ford Taurus sedan which has been redesigned completely and looks very different from its predecessor, Ford will also introduce the Taurus X for the 2008 model year. The Taurus X is a rebadged version of the Ford Freestyle, a crossover SUV. The Taurus X is one of the vehicles that Ford is looking at to attract car buyers with. Their lineup of light trucks is also redesigned for the 2008 model year. SUVs and pickups which can be equipped with the Ford pickup cowl cover are now offered with more standard features to attract more buyers.

Aside from anchoring their hopes on the 2008 lineup, Ford is also looking to continue their workforce reduction. According to Fields, Ford has essentially achieved the goal of cutting down 14,000 jobs. Fields said that about 4,000 employees have already left the company last year, while the 10,000 employee-reduction will be implemented this year.

?We actually are done with that,? said Fields. ?We do have some folks that are staying with us a little bit longer, through the remainder of the year, in some critical positions.?

As for their production capacity, Fields has this to say: ?Overall, we’re ahead of where we expected to be in capacity reduction. Economic conditions continue to make it more and more difficult for our suppliers, and that means we are going to have to work even harder to reach our targeted material cost reductions.?

Ford lost money last year due to the fact that they are producing vehicles more than what they can sell. To turn the company back to profitability, Ford needed to reduce its production.

Ford Motor Corp., the third largest automaker around the world, boasts its stable reign in the truck sales. In the past two years, the automaker sold over 900,000 F-Series pickups. Said figure is 800,000 more per year for the past 8 years. In the past 30 years, no other carmaker has established sales of 800,000 only Ford.

Doug Scott, Ford Truck Group marketing manager, said, “We’ve accumulated more than 40 awards for F-150 over the past two years. We simply know truck customers better than anyone else.” Scott added, “Leveraging Built Ford Tough and our unrivaled heritage of durability and reliability earned through consistent day in and out performance for Ford Truck customers during the past 58 years is crucial to the truck team’s offense-based game plan.”

Ford F150, best-selling truck in the F-Series, is deemed the bread-and-butter of the company. In its introduction 2004, the automaker flaunted its parts diagram for Ford F150 pickup, which is designed to produce a powerful car that can withstand difficult demands of towing. This year, Ford brought back the Harley-Davidson F-150 and Super Duty versions. Subsequently, it also delivered new chrome packages for both models. The models are also given Sirius Satellite Radio and 20-inch wheels.

According to Todd Lenz, F150 marketing manager, several Ford vehicles like the F150, are already employing flexible powertrain. As a fact, F150 uses a E85 Ethanol, which allows owners to use domestic produced, renewable, inexpensive, and clean alternative to the conventional petroleum-based gasoline. The drawback though is that there is scarce supply of E85 pumps.

Ford is considering building concept trucks that utilizes several Ford F250 pickup parts plus other groundbreaking parts and accessories to come up with better trucks. These new vehicles are expected to be displayed at the upcoming North American auto shows.

“Innovation has long been the key to Ford’s success with trucks,” Scott concluded. “While our competitors play catch-up we’re continuing to anticipate the features that matter to the consumer and get there before the other guys do.”

Ford trucks are untouched by the ongoing market shift to small, sleek, compact cars. According to auto analysts the secret behind its success is the focus on quality and innovations. The marketplace has long been convinced of the quality of Ford trucks. This is the reason why, for several decades now, Ford is amassing a hefty truck sales.

We are just into the fifth month of the year and car manufacturers are already promoting their 2008 model year vehicles. The 2008 Ford Escape and its hybrid version have already been released and so are other auto models from different car manufacturers.

In the United States, as prices of gasoline increases, hybrid cars have been gaining popularity. For the 2008 model year, it is expected that car manufacturers will be introducing more hybrid vehicles as the demand for this type of automobiles increases. Another technology though is set to be unleashed into the United States and Canadian auto markets in the form of clean diesel engines. Next year, it is expected that European and Japanese car manufacturers will be introducing diesel cars in the said auto markets. In Europe, the use of diesel engines is already popular, thanks to companies like Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz. The success of diesel engines in the region is expected to give diesel engines a better reputation in the United States.

For years after the 1970s and 80s decades, Americans have been staying away from diesel engines. It can be remembered that this engine technology was introduced in the 1970s in the United States. Unfortunately, the diesel engines of old are known for their black soot emissions and in some cases poor reliability. Newer diesel engines though have overcome this problem with the use of better emission filter technology.

The Ford Super Duty already available in the market boasts of having a powerful diesel engine with emission similar to that of a gasoline engine. The Super Duty is one of the vehicles that can promote the use of cleaner diesel engines. The problems encountered in the use of bio-ethanol is also another reason seen that will help popularize the use of diesel cars.

Flex-fuel vehicles in the United States which are designed to run on a combination of gasoline and bio-ethanol is recently being criticized due to the lack of fuel refilling stations offering E85 – the alternative fuel composed of 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent bio-ethanol. In a recent study, it was found out that 99 percent of flex-fuel vehicles in the United States are actually using conventional gasoline thereby beating the purpose of these supposed to be environment friendly vehicles.

Already, European car manufacturers have expressed their intentions to release diesel vehicles in the United States next year. The German Volkswagen has been selling diesel-powered vehicles in the U.S. for decades and at present, they will upgrade their engines by using a cleaner technology dubbed as the Blue Motion. The first Volkswagen auto model which will use the clean diesel technology is the Jetta.

Another German car manufacturer which will introduce diesel-powered vehicles in the U.S. next year is Mercedes Benz. Sport utility vehicles or SUVs, known as the favorite of American car buyers, will be what Mercedes Benz will be equipping with their clean diesel engines. Already announced to be released in the United States auto market are diesel versions of the M-Class, R-Class, and the GL-Class. These vehicles will be equipped with clean diesel engines and other soot cleaning technologies from the engine to their, Mercedes Benz mufflers and out the exhaust pipe. Aside from these European carmakers a Japanese company has expressed their intention to introduce a diesel car in the U.S.

Nissan, the third largest Japanese car manufacturer announced that they will be producing a diesel-powered Maxima sedan in the near future.

One problem in the way of the promotion of use of diesel engines in the United States is the availability of diesel fuel. Not more than 50 percent of all refueling stations in the country are offering diesel engines. Fortunately though, the oil industry is clearly supporting the use of diesel-powered vehicles. The Marathon Petroleum Company recently earmarked $3.2 billion for the expansion of their refineries that is expected to increase the availability of diesel fuel in refilling stations across the United States.

Another problem faced by diesel powered-vehicles in the country is consumer acceptance. Although new technologies have made diesel engines cleaner than their ancestors, its reputation has been tarnished heavily. Gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles are also popular among car buyers and it would be something that diesel cars must contend with. Furthermore, the use of advanced emission cleaning technology gives these diesel engines a price almost equal to that of hybrid vehicles. In the end, it would be a matter of preference that will spell the success or lack of it for diesel-powered vehicles.

I have a website I’d like to expose to nascar fans and want to know a few creative ways to reach them. I’m not sure what magazines would be best and would not be opposed to going to a few races and setting up a booth. Can you think of any other ideas?

Exhausts & Catalysts