In The News

The 2015 Ford Mustang is completely new in just about every imaginable way, except how it looks.

Ford wasn’t about to ditch the traditional long hood and short rear deck design that have been hallmarks of the Mustang since it broke cover 50 years ago. Yet in every other way, this new Mustang is a quantum leap forward in terms of performance, refinement, and even fuel economy.

Chrysler Group LLC has received the inaugural Company of the Year Innovation Award for 2013 from the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). The newly-created Innovation Award "recognizes a new corporate method, initiative or process to accelerate and positively impact minority supplier development in support of NMSDC's vision, mission and core capabilities – certify, develop, connect and advocate – with particular emphasis on professional services and non-traditional categories."

General Motors Co. said Wednesday it will invest $24 million to provide a powerhouse and electrical-generation equipment at two assembly plants to allow for converting landfill gas into electricity.

The Detroit automaker says it will be the first North American automaker to generate its own electricity using landfill gas, a source of renewable energy. The investment is going into GM’s Orion Assembly Plant in Orion Township and its Fort Wayne Assembly Plant in Roanoke, Ind. About $13 million will be spent at Orion.

South Korea’s interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership is yet another reason why a final trade pact should include strong, enforceable rules prohibiting currency manipulation, say American automakers.

“The Korean government has intervened frequently in the foreign exchange markets to manage the value of the won to gain or retain a competitive advantage,” American Automotive Policy Council President Matt Blunt says in a statement released today.

The AAPC represents the interests of the “big three” — Ford, Chrysler and General Motors.

 Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers are partnering with the American Football Coaches Association for a new program aimed at keeping children safe and finding them quicker if something was to happen.

The new program, which officials announced today at Ford Field in Detroit, includes distributing inkless fingerprint identification kits to at least 225,000 families in communities the Dearborn-based automaker and UAW has hourly employees, including 50,000 kits for Detroit Public Schools.

General Motors Co. will produce a limited number of Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Premiere Edition convertibles that will arrive in showrooms early next year.

The special edition Stingray convertible costs $77,450 and will be limited to 550 vehicles, the automaker said this week. The vehicles feature the 3LT trim and come in a lime rock green exterior and a brownstone suede interior.

When it comes to keeping its tail on the track, the 2014 Camaro Z/28 manages airflow like few other production vehicles, generating downforce like a race car to press the tires against the track for high-speed stability and greater cornering capability.

Numerous modifications were made to the exterior, compared to the Camaro SS, with new and revised content developed to improve aerodynamics, powertrain cooling and brake-system cooling. They help the Z/28 produce 440 pounds more downforce at 150 mph, relative to the SS, which generates slight lift at that speed.

 The unveiling of the 2015 Ford Mustang remains 10 days away, but anticipation for the vehicle is mounting faster than the RPMs of a Shelby GT.

Ford announced the Dec. 5 unveiling last week in connection to the 2013 LA Auto Show, and while the Dearborn-based automaker continues to releases short inspirational films in anticipation of the vehicle's debut, one executive says the unveiling will be well worth the wait.

Ford has gone all-in on its efforts to offer most of its new vehicles with a fuel-efficient EcoBoost engine, but the automaker is reportedly preparing to take another big step toward improving vehicle efficiency. Automotive News is reporting that Ford will soon expand the availability of start-stop technology, which was first offered – presumably the first non-hybrid vehicle, that is – on the 2013 Fusion (equipped with the 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine) as a $295 option.