Ford Focus RS in the Spotlight

Looking for a new car can be really exciting, but it can also be really frustrating if you can't find something that you like or aren't sure about the reliability of a particular vehicle. One car you'll want to consider, though, is the Ford Focus RS. This model has so much to offer that it's hard to ignore, even if it wasn't previously the kind of car you thought you'd be looking at. Keep an open mind when it comes to your car choice, so that you can get something that you really want and really like, rather than being stuck with something you weren't crazy about just because you didn't think you could find what you were really after.

The Focus RS is the fastest European production car, and delivers 300PS. It has a six-speed transmission, a top speed of more than one hundred and sixty miles per hour, and a zero to sixty acceleration time of less than six seconds. Even though it might sound like some kind of high performance sports car, it's really designed to be very practical for something you'd drive every day, as well. The handling and performance are great, but they are coupled with comfort and a stylish look.

If it makes you want to immediately go out and find a Ford dealer, Dorset can help you with your selection. You can look for the new Ford Focus RS as well as other Ford models if you don't think the Focus RS is for you. It's a car that's hard to beat, though, since there are not many cars that you can find in this type of category. Most of the cars that you locate and that have such a sporty feel to them aren't practical. Most practical cars aren't sporty. Getting both is a huge benefit to a lot of people who really like that sporty look and fast engine but who also know that they have to find something that they can put their family in or get to work and back. Since they can't afford to buy two separate cars, they can use the Focus RS to combine the best of both worlds into one. It's a great choice for a large number of people and it's definitely going to stay popular for a long time. It's in the spotlight at the moment, but there's no evidence of it moving out of that spotlight any time soon. As a sporty and affordable and practical choice, finding a better car would be difficult.

The Future of Ford Hybrids

With all the attention that Nissan, Toyota and General Motors have garnered in the recent hybrid industry, Ford remains a constant, slowly inching its way toward a leading position in the competition to get the most popular and reliable electric cars on the market. With the success of the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius, Ford took notice and saw a profitable trend in the guise of an industry wave that was just beginning to swell.

Today, Ford continues to lobby media and Congress to offer better and more tax incentives to produce hybrid vehicles. Bill Ford has designs and expectations to make Ford the most innovative leader in the competitive high-tech hybrid market. Ford is not interested in carrying on tradition as much as it is now intent on renewing and reclaiming its ground-breaking and innovative future.

Some Recent Figures

As of July 16, 2013, Ford has quadrupled its share in the American electrified vehicle market. The company has expanded growth by hiring new engineers, spending more on research and development, including new plants and facilities and concentrating on fuel economy improvements. Ford's share of the United States market has climbed to 16 percent, up 12 share points. Meanwhile Toyota's share has dipped to 8 points, and much of it because of the trade-up to Ford's new C-MAX hybrid. Ford's vehicle sales have shown a 400 percent increase in one year, amounting to 46,197 units sold through June of this year. The Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid and the Ford C-MAX hybrid have pushed most of the sales growth. Coastal markets, Texas and Florida have strong sales and trade-in appeal for the C-MAX while Toyota sales have dropped 5 percent. According to Polk registration data, the first five months of 2013 has seen Ford dominate the California market.

In just the last month, the C-MAX accounted for 64 percent of the non-Ford brand owners who traded in their Toyota Prius for the Ford C-MAX. Ford has realized the fastest retail growth over every other brand in the coastal market, pulling in 2.5 percentage points from 2008. The company has gained nearly a full percentage point since the beginning of the year.

The Lincoln MKZ demand has forced Lincoln to up production 40 percent, a 20 percent increase. Lincoln has realized an influx of new buyers who have shown up in their showrooms in increasing numbers.

The Success of Going Electric

Ford's versatile fuel-efficient lineup vehicles, trucks and utilities have all showed gains this year. Its passenger car share in the coastal regions has grown roughly three times faster than the rest of the industry. Ford's greatest gains have come from the small cars, small utilities and midsize sedans which have contributed 42 percent of the its growth in the last five years. The compacts have led the way, like the Focus, Fiesta and C-MAX, pulling in more than 35,851 sales in just the last month, nearly a 40 percent increase over the previous year. The best-selling utility in America is the Escape, while the Fusion has topped record sales for the first six months of 2013. Overall, the utility line has taken top honors for the past three years, with the Ford F-Series outselling all other brand name pickups for 36 years straight.

Mileage Upgrades for Hybrids

Ford has placed emphasis on its on-road fuel economy for all its 2013 hybrid models in Canada and the U.S. They will begin performance calibration upgrades in August, 2013, for the Lincoln MKZ, Fusion and C-MAX hybrids. The areas that will receive upgrades, include increasing the electric speed phase to 85 mph, up from 62 mph, introducing Active Grille Shutters to reduce drag during all driving conditions, slowing the fan's speed to reduce energy consumption and reducing the warm-up time by 50 percent to allow electric-only running at engine shutdown. The air conditioning systems will be refined, cutting down on compressor usage during cold weather running. The areas of calibration updates and refinements will cover city and highway driving, extended cold weather conditions and times of air conditioning operation.

Stars of the Future

Ford aims to capitalize on its most successful selling pickup of all time, the F-150. It appears as though they will be forging this new ground by themselves. Ford split from a joint venture with Toyota to produce a hybrid rear-wheel-drive pickup and now intends to develop its own version in-house. To start things off for 2014, Ford will dramatically cut the weight of the F-150 by as much as 700 pounds, just in time for its 2014 debut at the Detroit Auto Show. Longer term projections for the full-size pickups and SUVs are proposals and plans to meet or exceed the standard 54.5 mpg projected for 2025. Yet Ford hopes to have full hybrid versions of their trucks and SUVs before the decade is out.

Automotive Social Media

Together with the modernization of our civilization are the changes on the way people communicate. Social media has become part in human communications since the birth of Internet. For this reason, social media continues to generate interest in any form of businesses including automotive industry.

Automotive social media is a valuable automotive dealership marketing strategy, which aims to sell more cars and boost profit. Facebook and Twitter are probably the most used social media sites in businesses, and making your own account in these sites is very important. You can reserve your brand, advertise and as well as communicate with your potential customers, making your business more accessible to people. It also enables you to receive direct feedbacks regarding your business. If customers are saying negative things, then you have the chance to respond and give them clarifications.

Ford is the out front in using automotive social media; in 2009 Ford spent roughly one-quarter of its marketing dollars on digital and social media. This was more than double the amount spent by its competitors. James Farley and his team launched the Fiesta Movement. They posted 11,000 videos, 15,000 Twitter messages, and over 11 million social networking impressions as part of an American Ford Fiesta prelaunch social media campaign.

As a result, 4.5 million YouTube views, 3.5 million Twitter impressions, and 80,000 "hand raisers" who asked to be kept up to date on the U.S. launch of the Ford Fiesta. Ford's use of automotive social media, interests many companies like BMW, Mazda and Honda, which are making strong effort in employing it.

Twitter tweets are useful in all your announcements, advertisements, trivia, sales and discounts for your customers. Twitter has been recently use by Volkswagen Polo in their new promotions. Volkswagen started a competition on Twitter as a way to promote and publicize the new VW Polo, which is also 1st prize in the competition. Each time you write a tweet using the correct hashtags, you will increase your chances of winning the VW Polo. This is such an excellent strategy to attract customers via automotive social media.

Facebook provides any businesses to start your own fan page and build it up in your local community to get enough likes to be known to your customers. Through posts and pictures people will notice and be interested in your advertisements and promotions.

It is also great to post videos in YouTube to communicate and attract the curiosity of your potential customers. Posting videos is free, that becomes less expensive compared to costly advertisements in TV and radio.