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Some years, automakers show off fanciful design concepts never meant for the road at the Detroit auto show, but 2012 features significant new launches people can actually buy.

The big three came loaded for showrooms, each showing off impressive new models or updates. Cadillac came out ready to seriously take on the BMW 3-series with its all new ATS. This small sport luxury sedan sounds like it's got the right stuff to compete with the eternal champion from Munich.

The new Dodge Dart is less ambitious, but looks like a credible revival of a popular nameplate. And it aims … Read more

LAS VEGAS--The Consumer Electronics Show is really about the here and now, a showcase for the sleekest, fastest, shiniest gizmos that will show up in stores in the coming months.

But a panel of corporate leaders discussed the importance of creating corporate cultures that encourage companies to displace their own gadgets--to develop the next generation of devices that can replace the ones so lavishly displayed on the show floor here. Because if a company doesn't displace its own gadgets, rivals will.

"If you don't make those investments, clearly somebody else will cannibalize your business," said John … Read more

DETROIT--Last year, Ford updated the Focus, combining U.S. and European variants into a single world car. Now the company repeats that strategy with the new Fusion midsize sedan.

Ford mixed about one part Fusion with two parts Mondeo, its European midsize sedan, added one more part of new stuff, and came up with a sleek looking high tech sedan. The new car does away with the previous Fusion's three-bar grille and squarish roofline, opting for a grille that shares design language with the Fiesta and Focus. The roofline now forms a graceful line back toward the trunk.

The … Read more

LAS VEGAS--If you've ever wanted to tell the Car Talk guys to shut it, now's your chance because a Sync AppLink-enabled version of the NPR app for Android and iPhone will give select Ford drivers voice control over their NPR programming.

By saying "Hourly News," users can call up a 4- to 5-minute audio stream of the latest news of the hour. After saying "Stations," the driver will be able to select a live stream of his or her favorite local NPR affiliate. Likewise, the "Programs" command allows for quick access to … Read more

LAS VEGAS--In a joint CES press conference today, Ford Motor and NPR announced that streaming news is coming "straight to the dashboard."

NPR's new app will work with Ford's in-car control system, Sync AppLink, even those without a touch-screen interface, and is intended to be less distracting to the driver as it's based on voice command. Users can set favorite stations and programs in the app to be browsed later using the car's steering wheel controls. Apps are available immediately in the Android Market and iTunes App Store.

NPR played up the ability to … Read more

LAS VEGAS--You'd think that Ford's own Sync Destinations app would be among the select few that offer connectivity with the automaker's voice-controlled Sync AppLink technology, but oddly it wasn't...until now.

Ford has announced an updated version of the Sync Destinations app for iPhone that gives drivers voice control over the app when connected to an AppLink-enabled vehicle. Like the original app, users will be able to save favorite destinations and access driving directions and traffic reports to them utilizing their cloud-based Sync Services account. However, now users can simply speak the commands "Mobile Apps,&… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Available as an iOS app in the iTunes App Store, accessible online at Scout.me, and coming soon to Ford Sync AppLink, TeleNav's new Scout service aims to help users discover and navigate to destinations whether on foot, at home, or in the car.

On the iPhone, Scout presents users with a dashboard that gives an overview of personalized, real-time commute times to work or home and shortcuts to local search and saved favorite locations. Digging deeper, the app also offers a search-and-discovery engine for finding, for example, a local bar or restaurant. User reviews are aggregated from … Read more

When electric Ford Focuses start rolling off the assembly line in March, some vehicles will incorporate recycled plastic bottles tossed away at CES.

The new EV will use Repreve seating material made by Unifi. Repreve is a blend of post-industrial fiber waste and post-consumer waste such as the plastic water bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Each electric Focus will have the equivalent of 22 plastic bottles in its interior, and the strategy is expected to divert 2 million post-consumer plastic bottles from landfills.

If you're attending either the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas or the 2012 … Read more

Today Ford Motor announced it would open a research lab in the San Francisco Bay Area, as part of the Ford Research and Innovation division.

For the last few years, Ford has emphasized its focus on technology, so it only makes sense that the company, based in the Detroit area since 1903, would open a facility in the Bay Area. According to Ford, the lab will take advantage of its proximity to high-tech companies and local universities to drive innovation in Ford vehicles.

The lab will have a broad agenda, from clean drive systems to in-car connected services. Partnerships with … Read more