was browsing Ford's website and saw this. comes out late next year. Ford has really been stepping up their game. Just did an article on them for one of my classes the other day and they are combining a lot of their cars into common platforms so they can stay competitive around the globe (since they sell 51% of their cars elsewhere, makes sense). The Focus and the Escape will be on the new platform (new Escapes look great). and so on and so forth. anyways, check it out http://www.ford.com/cars/focus/focusst/?intcmp=fv-hpbb-2013-focus-st
Ford made one really smart move in the past couple of years that was ahead of the curve as far as US auto manufacturing goes... They started selling off and unloading all "competing" and low profit car lines. Mercury, Volvo, etc. If GM would have started doing that at the same time, they would be a lot better off now. Ford was making record profits while GM was shooting themselves in the foot. No bailout to Ford. Smart business decisions FTW.
IIRC, there was a 'bailout' in the form of government contracts. It was a formal bailout like GM got, but it was extra money.
not to this scale though and not internationally. think about it, we haven't had any of the awesome cars they make abroad, ever. they are attempting to standardize their products globally to save money. soon you will see the majority of car manufacturers offering the SAME EXACT vehicles everywhere in the world. i can go on and on about this, since i am studying it now. enter the global consumer
Getting new business is a lot different than "give us money!" Government contracts are given to automobile manufacturers all the time. Someone else would have gotten it if they didn't as their is still large demand for fleet vehicles.