2011 FORD SUPER DUTY FIRE TRUCK AIDS FAMILIES OF FALLEN LOS ANGELES FIREFIGHTERS

2011 F-550 Super Duty

• Ford will donate to the Los Angeles County Firefighters Widows and Orphans Fund for each attendee of the L.A. Auto Show who visits the 2011 Ford F-550 Super Duty chassis cab upfitted as a fire department first-responder truck

• Ford will donate $10,000 to kick off contributions to the fund; auto show visitors can help by visiting and participating in the Ford display (Ford donates $10 per visitor) or by taking a test drive in a Ford vehicle (Ford donates $20 per test drive); up to a maximum of $6,000 per day will be donated by Ford

• This F-550 Super Duty features the all-new Ford-designed, Ford-engineered and Ford-manufactured 6.7-liter Power Stroke® V-8 turbocharged diesel, which delivers significantly improved torque and horsepower along with class-leading fuel economy

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 2, 2009 – For more than 60 years, dependability and reliability have been the hallmark of Ford's F-Series trucks. For those who rely on their trucks 24/7 for emergency rescue work, the new 2011 Ford F-550 Super Duty XLT chassis cab – which can be upfitted as a fire department first-responder vehicle – will be showcased at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The 2011 F-550 Super Duty is the cornerstone of a program enabling auto show attendees to aid the Los Angeles County Firefighters Widows and Orphans Fund. Ford will donate $10,000 to the fund at the outset, then $10 for those who visit the Ford display and $20 for those who test drive a Ford vehicle at the show to a maximum of $6,000 a day throughout the entire run of the show.


"This is one small way we can give back to the families of these heroes and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their fellow citizens," said Doug Scott, Truck Group marketing manager.

Two key additions to the redesigned truck – the new 6.7-liter Power Stroke® V-8 turbocharged diesel engine and the new heavy-duty six-speed TorqShift automatic transmission – underscore why more municipalities count on Ford trucks than any other to perform their most demanding and critical jobs. Ford is ranked No. 1 in the Emergency Vehicle Segment based on R.L. Polk & Co. Class 2-7 emergency Vehicle Vocation registrations.


"The Los Angeles County Fire Department is grateful to Ford for remembering the family members of our fallen firefighters," said Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman. "We support their efforts to raise funds for the Los Angeles County Firefighters Memorial Committee."

The all-new 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8 turbocharged diesel was designed, engineered and manufactured by Ford and will deliver significantly improved torque and horsepower as well as class-leading fuel economy.

It features a block made of compacted graphite iron, which is stronger than cast iron to withstand the increased firing pressures of the new combustion system. The single turbocharger is engineered to provide the benefits of a small turbocharger (faster response) and a large turbocharger (compressing more air to create more power) in one package. The new engine also can run on biodiesel blends of up to B20.


The increased power is especially important on applications such as fire fighting. The apparatus on the F-550 chassis cab first-responder unit includes:

* 300-gallon water tank
* 8-gallon foam cell
* Two pumps
* Electric rewind hose reel with 150 feet of hose
* Three-stage winch with 8,000-pound capacity
* 100 feet of wire rope


Segment-exclusive Live Drive PTO helps put out the fire while the truck is moving
The all-new heavy-duty TorqShift six-speed automatic transmission offers available Live Drive Power Take Off (PTO) for diesel customers. This application allows the transmission to power auxiliary equipment, and the power is available any time the engine is running – and the truck is moving.


The Live Drive PTO is critical in fire-fighting applications because it allows the truck to spray water onto a brush fire or grass fire, for example, while the truck is stationary or moving. This is the first time Live Drive PTO has been offered in this segment.

The 2011 Super Duty will be built at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, and goes on sale next spring.
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Hummer getting plans in order for H4 and H5 models

The last piece of the Hummer reclamation project is adding those new models. When Tengzhong gets the keys to the Hummer kingdom, it will also receive engineering plans for the H4, a new smaller model that is reportedly based on the HX Concept from the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. Taylor reportedly told AN that Hummer's Jeep Wrangler fighter could arrive within three years. Also possible is an even smaller Hummer H5, which would help the SUV automaker to meet future CAFE requirements. Taylor even goes as far as to say that the smaller H4 and H5 could one day replace the brand's heavier and thirstier H2 and H3 mainstays. The next big challenge for Hummer once the sale becomes final is to find a manufacturing partner to build these vehicles. GM will reportedly cease building Hummer models as early as the end of 2010.


First on the "Honey Do" list is to arrest the free-fall of Hummer sales. Right now, sales are down 64% on the year to about 8,500 units, but Hummer is looking for 25,000 sales in 2010. That will be a tough nut to crack, but Automotive News reports that the company optimistically plans to get things done in part with some aggressive marketing. Ultimately, however, new product will be needed to get dealerships buzzing with customers again. In the meantime, Hummer's 154 U.S. dealers need more inventory in the showrooms to help move metal. AN says that dealers only have 1,300 units in stock, compared to the 7,400 vehicles at the same time in 2008.


As a brand, Hummer has been in limbo since General Motors announced it was selling the downtrodden marque to China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd. Speculation remains that the sale could be completed on or around December 1, pending approval from GM and the Chinese government. For now, everything is on hold, though Tengzhong and new Hummer CEO Jim Taylor are apparently still working hard to plan Hummer's future.
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Ghosn Says Nissan Will Stay in the Full-Size Truck Market

Speculation is that Nissan could be looking for an outside partner (or already have one) to collaborate on a new pickup. We're thinking one candidate could be Toyota. The only other Japanese automaker competing directly with the domestics in the U.S. half-ton pickup truck market, Toyota was expecting to produce 200,000 units per year of the Tundra when the it launched, but has sold only 66,000 through October. Teaming up with Nissan would help bring costs down, soak up extra production capacity and mitigate the risk inherent in competing against Ford, GM and Chrysler at what they do best.


When Dodge announced that it wouldn't be sharing its Ram platform with Nissan, we just kind of assumed that the Titan was going to go the way of the Do Do. Why? Because Titan sales are the suck. Nissan has only sold 15,393 copies of its largest truck through the first 10 months of the year. For perspective, Ford sold more F-150s in the first two weeks of October than Nissan has sold in 43 weeks. Last year wasn't much better either, as only 30,000 customers walked out of a Nissan dealer with a new Titan.


But if a report from Inside Line is to be believed, the Titan will live on. Renault/Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn reportedly told IL that "Titan will have a replacement, we are staying in the large pickup truck market." It makes a bit of sense that there will be another Titan given the fact that Nissan also uses the basic platform for the Infiniti QX56 and the Nissan Armada. But then again those portly SUVs aren't exactly flying off the shelf, either.


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