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DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford'southward futurity is brilliant, the company says. Information technology will push button electrification — are you fix for a hybrid F-150? — across much of the line and aims to surpass Toyota as the No. one seller of electrified vehicles by 2021. It will put OnStar-like telematics on all its vehicles, make standard a cadre of driver-assist and safety features called Co-Pilot360, and by 2020 accept the industry's youngest lineup. Ford executives, including new CEO Jim Hackett, laid out the future at a quickly called media briefing and backrounder for about 125 editors, writers, and analysts.

The Co-Pilot360 system raised eyebrows once when Ford said it volition make standard blind spot detection, and once more when information technology turns out Ford won't include adaptive prowl control standard in its prophylactic package, as competitors Honda, Hyundai and Toyota are doing.

Ford says performance cars, pickups and crossovers volition all have electrified versions soon.

Ford'south Wide Brushstrokes for Future Cars and Tech

Hackett, named CEO concluding May, talked about the future: "At that place is a new era of technology led by bogus intelligence, neural networks learning from the miles they've driven, and vehicle connectivity to the cloud to empower linkages betwixt vehicles and their environments." Ford intends to make 4G LTE telematics standard by 2019. With that, Ford can offer more services to owners and it can do over-the-air updates to the car, starting with Sync 3 updates and possibly expanding to more than modules.

By 2020, Ford will have eight crossovers in its showrooms and more than pickups equally well. By 2020, one-half of Ford's sales volume will be crossovers, the visitor estimates. Its biggest seller is likely to remain the F-Series pickup. "Our F-Serial business was $41 billion last year," said Jim Farley, president of Ford global markets, adding that information technology's "a larger business than Coca-Cola and Nike."

Ford's lineup will be newer, with more up-to-engagement tech, drivetrains, and driver assists. By 2020, Ford will have an boilerplate showroom age (time from design to being in the exhibit) of iii.3 years, versus 5.7 years now.

Hackett promised an "all-in push button on hybrid-electrics [and plug-in hybrids] on loftier-book profitable vehicles. A the hybrid version of the F-150 can exist used every bit a contractor'due south generator."

Ford will roll out a new condom suite, Co-Pilot360, starting in 2019. It has bullheaded spot detection but not adaptive prowl control.

Co-Pilot360: Add Some, Go out Some Out

Ford'due south Farley said, "We are gong to strengthen the trust of our customers accept in us every bit a brand. The latest example is how nosotros are making avant-garde driver-assist technologies standard on almost of ours cars, trucks and SUVs." The Co-Pilot360 parcel rolls out with the 2019 Ford Edge midsize crossover and Border ST performance version. Information technology includes:

  • Lane keep assist, meaning it detects when the car drifts out of lane and pushes information technology back into the lane. Just it won't center the car in the lane;
  • Blind spot detection (blind spot information system to Ford) and rear cantankerous traffic warning;
  • Automatic emergency braking, including forward collision alert and pedestrian detection;
  • Automatic loftier beams;
  • Rear backup photographic camera (which almost every car has now; information technology'southward a legal requirement for cars built equally of May 2018).

Co-Pilot360 lacks adaptive cruise control. That'southward standard on Honda Sensing and Toyota TSS, the much-talked-virtually safety packages standard on nigh every Honda and Toyota. Conversely, Honda and Toyota lack blind spot detection. Hyundai appears to be one-upping them all. Its new Santa Fe (formerly called Santa Atomic number 26 Sport) rolls in the all-time of all three: ACC, BSD and LKA

Ford couldn't requite a clear reason for omitting adaptive cruise control, instead circling back to commuter research that says BSD is the second-most-wanted driver assist feature later on a backup camera, which is on near cars now. On the society of 95 pct of drivers who've had BSD want it on their next auto. Ford will offer a package that includes both ACC and navigation. Ford several times talked about taking a leadership position in electrification and safe. Information technology would take been clearer leadership if Ford made ACC and blind spot detection standard. The company in a argument said, "Ford [will exist] offering even more than premium commuter-assist technologies, including adaptive prowl control with stop and get and lane centering, evasive steering aid and post-standoff braking in North America."

Speaking of navigation, Ford deserves credit for integrating Waze through its Sync AppLink software. Translation: Fifty-fifty if you lot own an iPhone, you'll exist able to run Waze on your Ford.

The all-new 2018 Lincoln Navigator, out last year, was N American Truck of the Year. It sold 10,523 units in 2017, about the same as the year before.

Lincoln: More SUVs Likewise

The focus was mostly on Ford Thursday. Non much was said almost Lincoln, other than than Lincoln too, will have more than crossovers and SUVs in its futurity lineup. Its best vehicle is a crossover, the midsize MKX. Right at present, Lincoln stands eighth in luxury vehicle sales with a bit over 100,000 units sold last year; Cadillac sells half again as much. Communist china is emerging as an important marketplace and Lincoln sold 54,124 vehicles there final yr while Cadillac sold 175,489, more than it sold in the US.

US Luxury Car Sales 2017

  1. Mercedes-Benz, 375,240
  2. BMW, 305,685
  3. Lexus, 305,132
  4. Audi, 226,511
  5. Cadillac, 156,440
  6. Acura, 154,6092
  7. Infiniti, 153,415
  8. Lincoln, 111,159
  9. Volvo, 81,507
  10. Land Rover, 74,739

Ford-supplied teaser image of a pending small off-road vehicle.

Some Problems of Ford's Ain Making

Ford's meeting was a combination of an on-the-record briefing plus an unveiling of eight vehicles in its Product Evolution Center (merely two of them sedans), which were shown and described off-the-record. Then the visitor fabricated available a darkish photograph of one, a small off-roader. Ford was hoping the assembled journalists would help tell Ford's upbeat vision of the future — and there are good parts.

While Ford is the largest-selling brand in the US, it has had mixed luck of late. The awaiting 2019 Ford Edge crossover should exist a strong seller, and other automakers are imitating Edge and Nissan Murano: midsize, 2 rows, upscale experience at mainstream pricing. The F-Series pickup is the best-selling vehicle in the Usa, with 896,764 sold in 2017. The Ford Sync infotainment arrangement finally works afterwards a decade of tinkering.

Only: The once-promising C-Max Energi small crossover / hybrid is going abroad. Investors are looking for ameliorate results and greater efficiencies from Ford's factories. This week Ford announced a call up of 1.4 1000000 cars (Fusion, Lincoln MKZ 2014-2018) because the steering bike bolt can come loose. Ford North American president Raj Nair left abruptly left calendar month because of personal-behavior issues. Ford has not won its share of car reviews lately. It fared poorly on the 2018 JD Ability Vehicle Dependability Study of reliability after 3 years, placing six spots from the bottom. The non-Us companies that Ford owned 15 years agone are mostly flourishing: Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo. Wall Street Periodical reviewer Dan Neil dumped on Ford in his review of the Volvo S90 this month, noting:

Ford owned Volvo for years and did nothing much with the brand. China's Geely took over, invested $10 billion, and now…U.s. sales of Ford's premium Lincoln brand have been stagnant for years and were down 23.iv percent in February, even with the loftier demand for the new Lincoln Navigator. The trend lines suggest Volvo will before long outsell Lincoln in its home marketplace, even though the latter is an American icon, has more than than twice the number of dealerships as Volvo, and most US consumers couldn't find Sweden on a map.

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