Ford flung the covers off the 2020 Ford Escape crossover, the design of which has been taken through a thorough makeover session. There are new powerplants, including a hybrid and a plug-in hybrid, under the hood for the Ford crossover as it moves into another model year.
Ford’s answer to the VW Golf GTI & GTD hot-hatch twins arrives in the form of the 2019 Ford Focus ST which is now offered in punchy petrol and diesel versions, at least in Europe
The second month of 2019 has been quite a chaotic one as a few recalls affecting over a million cars each have cropped up, from different manufacturers.
With the dreaded Takata issue making a comeback in the news, the number of vehicles recalled in the past month is sizeable.
Not a lot has happened in the past month at the arena of automotive recalls apart from a “gigantic mistake” from Volkswagen and another recall from Ford that involves 874,000 trucks.
Ford recently launched the 2020 Shelby GT500 at this year’s Detroit Auto Show. The numbers are not out yet, but the 5.2-litre V8 supercharged engine is said to produce over 700 hp. This should be enough to propel the GT500 from a speed of 0-100 kph easily in less than 4 seconds. It is mated to a 7-speed dual clutch automatic transmission. There will be no manual option.
Ford has revealed the all-new 2020 Explorer and is set to make its debut at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show. The new Explorer will be bigger and lighter than the current generation and will be based on a rear-wheel-drive platform.
Ford made headlines a few months ago when they announced that they’ll stop selling sedans and hatchbacks in the United States due to high costs and low profit margins compared to crossovers and SUVs. The Mustang will survive there too, but everything from the Fiesta to the Taurus will get the axe in a couple of years. It is entirely possible that the same strategy will be followed in the Middle East, as the car line-up doesn’t get much attention any more, and the next-generation Focus will not be launched here (which we drove and liked). Word is that twin-model Mondeo may go the way of the dodo in Europe as well.
The “Limited Edition” Shelby version of the 2018 Ford F-150 is now offered in the UAE.
We’ve already said before that the current Ford Mustang GT is quite possibly the best all-rounder sports coupe to come out of America ever. It’s still a fresh model, having hit the GCC only in 2015. However, a facelift as well as some thorough upgrades were introduced for 2018.