SWEET SIXTEEN FOR F-SERIES: Ford's F-Series truck has been crowned America's best-selling vehicle for the 16th year in succession, with 1997 model year sales of 751,492 units. Ford also won the best compact pick-up crown, with the Ranger winning its sales segment for the 11th year in a row. Despite the huge volumes of sales involved, Ford trucks recorded a healthy 7.9% growth for the month of September. The increase helped offset a 12.2% decline in car sales for September. For the year-to-date, Ford total US vehicle sales are up 0.1%, with car sales down 7.5% and truck sales gaining 6.4%. Ford has increased third-quarter production schedules by 25,000 units to cope with strong demand.

FAST CHARGER FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Ford has attacked one of the biggest obstacles facing commercialisation of electric vehicles - driving range. The company has taken delivery of a new system, named PosiCharge, that will charge an electric vehicle's battery pack in a matter of minutes rather than hours. Ford will use the new technology initially for the Ranger Electric pick-up. The production version of the Ranger EV presently offers real world range of 80km before requiring a six-hour recharge. The fast charge option will recharge 80% of the battery in less than 20 minutes. This will allow the pick-up to be driven more than 240km per day.

NEW ENTITY: Ford's Automotive Products Operations (APO) has had a change of name and strategy. The new entity, Visteon Automotive Systems, will be led by Ford Group Vice President Charlie Suzulk. The organisation will be separated into seven divisions covering powertrain control systems, interior systems, exterior systems, climate control systems, electronic systems, chassis systems and glass systems. Visteon aims to expand its outside business to 20% of total sales.

VIRTUAL PLANT TOUR: Ford is building a high-tech interactive visitor centre that includes a "virtual" plant tour. The state-of-the-art facility will open to the public next May near Ford's World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Called "Spirit of Ford", the centre will give visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how Ford designs, engineers, tests and manufactures cars and trucks.

BIRTHDAY SURPRISE: The legendary F-Series pick-up celebrated 50 years of motoring recently with a gala event at the world's biggest fair, the State Fair of Texas. The event was the beginning of a year of celebration for the best-selling vehicle in history. Texas is the biggest pick-up market in the world, with more than 10% of worldwide full-size pick-up sales during 1996. Ford introduced its F-Series truck line on January 16, 1948. In 1995, F-Series surpassed the Volkswagen Beetle as the world's best-selling car or truck nameplate in history. Ford has built and sold more than 26 million F-Series trucks, and more than 8 million are still on the road. The anniversary will be marked by a special logo on each 1998 F-150 as well as an advertising campaign.

PAINT PROCESS SAVES MONEY: Ford's European plants are saving a small fortune by switching to an ingenious new batch painting process. The scheme - pioneered in Germany - is based on Ford's Advanced In Line Vehicle Sequencing (ILVS) system. It works by analysing vehicles as they approach the paint shop and then sorting them into batches according to the colour they need painting.

NATURAL PROGRESSION: Ford has stepped up its campaign to provide convenient and affordable refuelling stations for owners of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in the United States. In a joint initiative with refuelling suppliers FuelMaker Corporation, Ford will directly market home and office refuelling systems to NGV customers. NGV buyers will receive a \$US 1000 incentive on FuelMaker refuelling appliances between now and the end of the year. The incentive represents a 25% saving. Ford believes that increasing the availability of fuel is the single most important issue it faces in building markets for alternative fuel vehicles. Last year, Ford sold 95% of all alternative fuel vehicles in the
U.S.

SIMPLER MODEL LINE-UP: Ford in the United States has simplified its product range in response to recent customer research. The new system, Ford Choice, will apply to the 1998 model year and will feature just two series of sedans - the LX and SE. They will replace the current G, GL and LX models. Within those two new series, Ford Choice will offer equipment packages with names that describe the content - "Comfort" or "Sport".

GREEN CABS: A city famous for its yellow cabs, New York City, will soon find itself dotted with green cabs. Ford has commenced delivering a fleet of Crown Victoria taxis powered by compressed natural gas. The cabs will be the first factory-built alternative fuel vehicles to be used in New York's taxi fleet. Ford studies estimate that if all 11,700 New York cabs were operated on natural gas, 2600 tons of pollutants would be removed from the city's s air.

SWITCHED ON DEALERS: Ford has authorised 10 of its Californian dealerships to begin selling the 1998 Ford Ranger electric vehicle. Deliveries of the Ranger EV will start in the new year, with fleet customers expected to form the majority of buyers. The vehicle will feature a number of class-leading safety and convenience features such as an on-board conductive charger, regenerative braking, anti-lock braking and emergency power-off. Powered by lead-acid batteries, the Ranger EV will have a "real-world" driving range of approximately 80km between charges. It will be capable of accelerating from 0-100km in 12.5 seconds. Ford offers a total of 11 vehicles that run on either ethanol, methanol, propane, natural gas or electricity.

GRAND MARQUIS LAUNCHED: Mercury has released its 1998 model-year Grand Marquis, which boasts increased engine horsepower, larger wheels and brakes, power locks and a new "Precision Trac" suspension system for improved ride and handling. A new front fascia and bumper lend a more contemporary appearance, while the car gets prominent new tail lamps accented with chrome. Sales of the Grand Marquis were up 10% for the period from January to August 1997. Grand Marquis enjoys the highest customer loyalty rating among all vehicles in the large car segment, with 42 % of all buyers returning to the product.

POLICE LINE-UP: Ford Britain has opened a new facility in Essex, England, to modify police and emergency vehicles. The facility, based at the Ministry of Defence's headquarters in Essex, can prepare 2500 vehicles a year. The facility can supply and fit anything from light bars to rally-bred suspension units and high performance brakes. UK police forces bought 8% more Ford vans and cars in the first six months of this year compared with 1996. Ford has a 40% share of the UK police vehicle market. Mondeo is the top-selling police car.

FAMILY CARS: Family Circle magazine - which has 23 million American readers - has awarded Ford Taurus and Mercury Mountaineer the 1997 Family Cars of the Year Award. This is the first time in the 10-year history of the award that one company has won both Best Family Sedan and Best Family Activity Vehicle categories. The winners are selected on the basis of reader surveys of owners. The participants are women from families with at least one child under the age of 18, and they must have owned their vehicle for at least six months. The vehicles were rated for their performance and handling, safety, dependability, appearance, comfort, pace and value.

TRANSIT WINS FLEET AWARD: Ford's best-selling Transit model has been named Panel Van of the Year by Britain's Top Fleet magazine. The Transit saw off competition from Peugeot, Mercedes, Renault and Fiat to take the award. A spokesman for the Association of Car and Fleet Operators, which presented the award, said: "The Transit was, as in previous years, the clear choice for the award. The sheer versatility of the range, with many body configurations and engine combinations, endeared itself to our members - along with, of course, low whole-life cost of operation."

PUMA SAVAGES RIVALS: Puma continues to be the pick of the British motoring press, winning a comparison with the GM Tigra and SEAT Cordoba SX. After an extensive road test, Autocar says: "Puma redefines the standard by which all other small coupes must now be judged ... It has proved that such cars can be serious driving machines." German motoring magazine Autobild described the Puma as "the epitome of feline grace". Autobild says: "Above 2000 revs the pussy cat turns into a groaning, greedy predator with only one thing on its mind - to hungrily polish off one hairpin after the other."

TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIP: Ford and the National Science Foundation have created a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other companies to establish a new Centre for Innovation in Product Development (CIPD). The partnership builds on an existing relationship with MIT, concentrating primarily on manufacturing research. Collaborative research will involve teams of faculty, engineers, managers and students. On-campus students will spend their summers working at Ford and other companies to further their research.

PARTNERS IN PAINT: Ford's Wixom Assembly Plant witnessed a bizarre sight recently when a Chevrolet Lumina and a Dodge Neon rolled down the paint assembly line with a Lincoln Continental. The event was part of a test run of a new, more environmentally responsible powder paint process being jointly developed by the Big Three and 40 of their suppliers. Since the 1960s, hydrocarbon emissions from the domestic automakers' paint process at assembly plants have been reduced by 80%. This powder, placed on the cars as the final clear-coat, is more environmentally sound than the solvent-based, liquid clear-coat in use now. The new powder paint process does not give off ozone-forming gasses in the atmosphere and can be recaptured and recycled.