Hints and tips:
...… Let Me Be Frank with You, by Richard Ford, Bloomsbury, RRP£18.99/ Ecco, RRP$27.99 In this fourth outing for Frank Bascombe, Ford’s protagonist continues to grapple with the ageing process as he deals...
...Alan Mulally, Ford’s chief executive, had in the past spoken of moving Lincoln overseas but said the brand needed to reestablish itself in the US first....
...Ford officials say that last year’s decision to kill the 71 year-old Mercury nameplate, whose activities were usually grouped with Lincoln, has brought a sharper focus to Lincoln....
...Consumer removed its recommendation for two models equipped MyFordTouch, the Edge and the Lincoln MKX. Ford says it has since worked out the technical bugs....
...Ford set the stage earlier this year for a renewed focus on Lincoln by announcing the demise of the Mercury brand, positioned between Ford and Lincoln....
...In June, it decided to axe its slow-selling Mercury brand in the US, focusing instead on its larger Lincoln premium franchise. Ford’s focus on its “Blue Oval” nameplate appears to be paying off....
...That would have matched Toyota and Ford, which is shedding Mercury, and would have been a fresher start. Although its balance sheet is healthier, it is hardly shock-proof....
...While its three core brands – Ford, Lincoln and Mercury – recorded lower year-on-year sales in September, Volvo was up 12 per cent....
...Consumer Reports, an influential and independent US publication, said reliability rankings for the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands “continue to pull away from the rest of Detroit....
...While Mercury outsold Ford’s luxury Lincoln brand by 37,000 vehicles last year, Mr Mulally said dealers could expect to depend more heavily on Lincoln than Mercury in the future....
...Ford also neglected Lincoln, its US luxury brand, and Mercury, a premium brand positioned between Ford and Lincoln....
...Ford is now scrambling to claw its way back under Alan Mulally, the former Boeing executive hired over a year ago to replace Mr Ford as chief executive....
...The last time a Democratic presidential nominee won the presidency with more than half the vote was in 1976 when Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford....
...Mr Mulally said that Ford had achieved “Toyota-level quality” for its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles....
...Microsoft Auto, the technology group’s automotive division, will provide the technology, based on its software called Sync, on a dozen 2008 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models making their debut this year....
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