Ford Motor Company is pushing in-car technology in a huge way at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics show. Announcing MyFord Touch, an electronic dashboard that brings the intuitive nature of MP3 players and mobile phones to Ford vehicles. Technology that will redefine driver connectivity and interaction with their car.

MyFord™ which will be branded as MyLincoln Touch and MyMercury Touch on respective Lincoln and Mercury brand products, redesigns the in-car interface, mirroring how consumers interact with most devices in their lives using touch-sensitive buttons, touch screens, thumb-wheel controls and voice recognition. …click here to read more

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Recently, Ford’s director of advanced product creation and global performance Hermann Salenbauch, said that Ford Motor Company is considering the possibility of bringing the Ford Focus RS to the United States. Ford is looking for “feedback from the media and customers” Salenbauch told Automotive News. “How much do they like it? Is it really what they want? We are pretty confident that it is.”

We all got our hopes up earlier this month when a 2009 Ford Focus RS was spotted in Royal Oak, Michigan. Now, Jost Capito, who is the new head of Ford’s global performance division, selling the Focus RS in the U.S. would simply cost too much. “We’d like to, but the base car isn’t homologated for North America and that’s too costly a job to carry out just for a niche vehicle like the RS,” said Capito.

US customers get snubbed once again.

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Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) announced today the successful completion of debt restructuring initiatives that will reduce Ford’s Automotive debt by $9.9 billion from $25.8 billion at December 31, 2008, and lower Ford’s annual cash interest expense by more than $500 million based on current interest rates.

“By substantially reducing our debt, Ford is taking another step toward creating an exciting, viable enterprise,” said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. “As with our recent agreements with the UAW, Ford continues to lead the industry in taking the decisive actions necessary to weather the current downturn and deliver long-term profitable growth.” …click here to read more

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Unionized workers at Ford Motor Co. have approved contract changes that include freezing wages and cutting benefits in a move aimed at helping the automaker remain competitive. The United Auto Workers said Monday a majority of hourly workers voted in favor of modifications to the 2007 contract with Ford, eliminating cost-of-living increases and cash bonuses.

The agreement is expected to be a model for Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp., which need to bring their labor costs in line with those of foreign auto companies’ plants in the U.S. as a condition for the $17.4 billion they have received in federal loans so far. Under terms of their loan agreements, progress must be made by March 31. The companies are seeking an additional $21.6 billion in government aid.

Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford, which has not sought government funding as its rivals have, is the first U.S. automaker to come to an agreement with the union. The company said that it did not want to be at a disadvantage should its competitors negotiate lower labor costs with the UAW.

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Those looking for a new car are avoiding driving up to a car dealership and February auto sales, which were down to their lowest level in 40 years, is a perfect example. No surprise that the Detroit Big Three were down last month. General Motors reported the largest drop at 52.9 percent followed by Ford Motor Company at 48.4 percent. Chrysler rounded out the list with a drop of 44 percent.

American automakers are not the only ones struggling at the moment, Japanese companies also reported a significant drop in February 2009 sales with Toyota reporting a 39.8 percent followed by Honda at 38 percent. Nissan Motors reported an overall decrease of 37 percent.

Amazingly Subaru and Kia reported a gain of 1.4 percent and 0.4 percent respectively, while Hyundai reported a drop of 1.5 percent. Things have got to turn around soon.

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Ford Motor Co. said it still has no immediate plans to ask for financial aid from the U.S. government even though it reported a $5.9 billion US loss in the fourth quarter. With the automobile sector struggling amid weak sales, Ford said its revenue for the quarter dropped to $29.2 billion from $45.5 billion year-over-year.

Ford’s loss came in at $2.46 a share, compared to the loss of $1.13 a share, or $2.8 billion, it reported for the same quarter of the previous year. Excluding special items, Ford lost $1.37 a share, which was worse than the $1.30 per share average forecast of Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

The automaker said it consumed $5.5 billion in cash during the quarter, down from $7.7 billion in the previous quarter. The company has said previously it has enough cash to get through 2009 and won’t need a bailout unless the economic situation worsens. “We don’t plan to or foresee using it,” company spokesman Mark Truby said Thursday, referring to financial aid from the U.S. government.

The company had about $13.4 billion in cash as of the end of 2008, and plans to tap a $10.1 billion secured line of credit on Tuesday. While Ford is not seeking government aid, General Motors and Chrysler are both receiving loans. GM got $13.4 billion while Chrysler got $4 billion.

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Ford Motor Company is set to receive a $10 million grant from the United States Department of Energy to be spent on plug-in hybrid research and development. The government is funding half of Ford’s three-year plug-in development and demonstration program that currently has 20 plug-in hybrid vehicles on test.

According to the automaker, the three-year program is designed to demonstrate plug-in hybrids to consumers, as well as serve as a developmental test-bed for the untested technology. Ford has been working on a fleet of plug-ins with Southern California Edison, the Electric Power Research Institute, Johnson Controls-Saft and Michigan’s DTE Energy.

Ford is currently using the Edge and Escape SUVs as test-beds for plug-in hybrids. More details of the government’s grant are expected to be released tomorrow when an official announcement is made.

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