After nearly 25 years, the iconic Ford Bronco is getting revamped and making a comeback with two new additions to the series' family, Dave Pericak, global director of icons at Ford, told Cheddar.
"If you look at SUVs, they're more popular now than they've ever been. In 2019, SUVs had their most sales ever. So, now is the time," he said.
The iconic off-roader's sport model is set to hit the sales floor in the U.S. later this year, according to Pericak, with the two-door and first-ever four-door versions to hit the market next year. Even as the fully gas-powered SUVs draw anticipation, they're not currently part of Ford's push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Pericak said the company will be spending more than $11.5 billion in electrification over the next several years, but noted the initial focus will be on the F-150, Mustang, and Transit.
The coronavirus pandemic has hit U.S. automakers, including Ford, where deliveries reportedly dropped by a third year-over-year in Q2. Still, Pericak is optimistic that an uptick is coming as economies reopen.
"I hope that we're going to be coming out of this coronavirus pretty soon. I think we're going to be hitting it at the right time when people have a lot of the pent up demand," he said.
Ford is set to debut the new line of vehicles on July 13.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
