| Iconic Ford F-150 is still one tough truck, but the competition is ...
Ford's F-Series trucks have become the world's most popular pickups. But even with the newest and best F-150 lineup, the automaker and the people who drive them must see competition gaining in the rear-view mirror. It's approaching in the form of the 2007 Chevrolet Silverado, this year's North American Truck of the Year. And rumbling up from a new plant in the heart of truck country, Texas, comes another worthy pickup -- the Toyota Tundra, which is bigger and more powerful than ever and comes in myriad variations. The bumps in the road are already being felt by Ford. According to the trade journal Automotive News, F-Series sales in 2006 were 796,039, down from 901,463 the year before. They have continued to fall this year, down 13.4 percent in the first two months.
Vacaville man faces charges in fatal truck crash Friday
A 31-year-old man from Vacaville was identified Saturday as the fatal victim of a collision between two pickup trucks on Friday in the Suisun City area, which a witness said was sparked by reckless driving. The victim's full name was being withheld, but the California Highway Patrol reported the arrest of 32-year-old Robert Pettitt, also of Vacaville, on suspicion of felony vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. According to a departmental release, the suspect and victim were both northbound on Grizzly Island Road around 7:15 p.m. on Friday when the victim, in a 1989 GMC pickup, attempted to overtake Pettitt, who was driving a Ford F450 pickup. The vehicles were approaching the intersection with state Highway 12 and Sunset Avenue. The victim steered the GMC pickup onto the road's southbound lane to pull even with Pettitt's northbound vehicle, but for some reason the vehicles collided and went airborne, according to the report.
Much Needed Improvements to Commercial Truck Safety
Car safety technology is a perennially hot topic, but less attention is typically given to commercial trucks, which are significantly deadlier than cars. Your chances of surviving a crash with a tractor trailer are significantly less compared to a car, including monster vehicles like the GM Hummer. Volvo, one of the world's largest truck makers--not to be confused with Ford's Volvo car division--said today it will equip it trucks with sensors that alert the driver with an audible signal if the truck accidentally starts wandering from its lane. Along with that, Volvo will offer Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), which serves as a cruise control that uses a radar unit linked to the engine and brakes to maintain a set safety gap behind the vehicle in front. For whatever reason, these safety features are just now finding themselves into a few heavy trucks after being available for years.
Texas Motors Ford Launches Wi-Fi TV Station Today With Ford Cars ...
FORT WORTH, TX -- (MARKET WIRE) -- April 12, 2007 -- Texas Motors Ford (www.TexasMotorsFord.com) and Wi-Fi TV Inc. (PINKSHEETS: WTVI) today launched Texas Motors Ford TV, a landmark development in automotive marketing. Texas Motors Ford TV is Wi-Fi TV Station 33 and can be viewed globally for free by going to www.Wi-FiTV.com and selecting Station 33 or by going to the Ford category. "From the 2007 Ford F-150 trucks to the entire line of Ford products, you can see the Ford line-up in professional videos on Texas Motors Ford TV. We have some exciting surprises planned for the TV station. We will be adding fresh content, going live, and doing a lot of fun things to stimulate the interest of all auto enthusiasts in watching Texas Motors Ford TV," said Bobby Hedge, Parts Manager, Texas Motors Ford.
'Virtual Humans' Sought for Crash Tests
DETROIT -- An international consortium of nine automakers and two parts suppliers is asking researchers for proposals to develop "virtual humans" -- computer programs that will help them design safer cars and trucks. The Global Human Body Models Consortium LLC says the computer models will provide better simulations of crash injuries than current crash dummies. In an announcement scheduled for Sunday at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit, the companies say they have requested proposals from 40 research and university groups worldwide, and plan to create five centers of expertise for different parts of the body and two centers for full body models. The companies which formed the consortium a year ago are DaimlerChrysler AG, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Honda Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co., Nissan Motor Corp., PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Renault SA, Takata Corp., Toyota Motor Corp.
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