Ford Breaks Annual Record, It Only Took Five Months

* Ford surpassed its previous full-year hybrid sales record set in 2010 of 35,496 vehicles in just the first five months of 2013

* Ford is projected to sell approximately 37,000 hybrid vehicles through May, for around a 375 percent increase over the same period last year

* Ford Fusion Hybrid is projected to deliver its best May sales ever; Ford Fusion Energi is also projected to achieve its best sales month since its introduction in February

* Ford C-MAX Hybrid and Ford Fusion Hybrid continue to draw new customers to the Ford brand, with conquest rates at 64 percent and 67 percent, respectively; Toyota is the top competitive conquest brand.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) bested its previous full-year hybrid sales record in just the first five months of 2013, driven by the product strength of its new electrified vehicle lineup including Ford C-MAX Hybrid, Ford C-MAX Energi, Ford Fusion Hybrid and Ford Fusion Energi, as well as Lincoln MKZ Hybrid.

Ford beat its previous full-year hybrid sales record of 35,496 vehicles in 2010 with projected sales of 37,000 through May, an increase of more than 375 percent over the same period last year. Ford is now second only to Toyota in the number of hybrid vehicles it sells in the United States with its market share continuing to grow, up from 3 percent last year to an all-time-high 15.5 percent through April 2013.

"We're working tirelessly to get as many hybrids to the market as we can right now to meet this unprecedented customer demand for our electrified vehicles," said Erich Merkle, Ford U.S. sales analyst. "The success we are experiencing with hybrids is energizing the whole company."

Ford C-MAX Hybrid and Ford Fusion Hybrid continue to draw new customers to the Ford brand, with conquest rates remaining highest in the Ford showroom since the launch of both vehicle lines. Fusion Hybrid conquest sales are holding steady at 67 percent, with C-MAX Hybrid at 63 percent. The new lineup continues to draw new customers from Toyota and Honda, with most conquest sales coming from Toyota.

Ford Fusion Hybrid continues to fly off dealer lots, attaining some of the highest turn rates in the Ford showroom. Fusion Hybrid is turning in just 14 days on average as customers are drawn to the all-new car's fuel economy, styling and design. This turn rate is even higher in key markets like Los Angeles, at just 10 days. Fusion Hybrid represents an all-time-high percentage of overall Fusion sales, at 15 percent.

Ford Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid – the newest addition to Ford's electrified vehicle lineup – is also expected to achieve its best sales month ever since its launch in February.

"Our all-new electrified vehicle lineup is drawing new customers to the Ford brand," said C.J. O'Donnell, Ford electrification group marketing manager. "We're hearing from our dealers they literally can't keep our hybrids in stock."

~ LCP ~

Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance, a five-part ebook essay series, beginning with the Great Collapse, tells the story of entrepreneurs who are bringing factories back to life in Michigan and putting blue collars back to work.

Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance is available through Amazon and Vook.com.

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells the story of how the people of Grand Rapids, Michigan are working to change the way the world sees their community, the way they see the world, and the way the community sees itself.

Last Chance Mile is available wherever books are sold online including Abbott Press. Autographed editions are available through www.rodkackley.com

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community is also available at Schuler Books & Music on 28th Street and West Coast Coffee on Monroe Center in Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids May Be Beer City USA, But It's Not Alone In Michigan

Grand Rapids might be Beer City USA, but it is not the only city in Michigan where craft brewing is the new growth industry and beer tourists are landing to visit their favorite breweries.
Southeast Michigan, especially Metro Detroit, has plenty of craft beer entrepreneurs, too.
It’s only right. Beer and the companies that make it are as much a part of Michigan’s culture as Chrysler, Ford and General Motors.
The following is an excerpt from one of the Restore the Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance ebook essays, Quenching The Thirst:


As I wrote earlier, brewers came to Detroit in the mid-1800s. Among them was Bernhard Stroh who was destined to create one of the Motor City’s icons, the Stroh Brewery Company. At one time there were more than 70 breweries in Detroit. Then there was only one, Stroh. For a long time after that, there were none. But now it is different.
New breweries are growing as fast in Detroit as the hops can be brought in to make beer. Stroh may be gone, but there is a line of brew masters ready to follow the tradition set down by those that preceded them.
For instance, Atwater Brewery.
Atwater was built in Detroit’s historic Rivertown District in March 1997, inside an old factory warehouse, one of Detroit’s many vacant buildings. According to the state’s Pure Michigan website at www.michigan.org, Atwaters founders wrote that while their business is new, “Our brewing process, however, is over 200 years old. Our imported Kasper Schultz brew house allows us to brew our brands in the true heritage-style of traditional German lagers. And, when we say, “imported brew house,” we mean it! All of our main brewing equipment was brought in from Germany, where precision and passion for beer has its roots. In fact, when we have service calls on our equipment, we call in the Germans!”

For more of the story, please go to www.rodkackley.com.

Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance is a five-part ebook essay series that tells the stories of the entrepreneurs who are driving Michigan's economy. Why is beer a part of this series? Simply because the definition of manufacturing is taking raw materials and making something out of them. Hops + Barley = Beer.
Food processing is in this series for the same reason. 

Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance is available wherever ebooks are sold including Amazon and Vook.com.

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells the story of how the people of Grand Rapids, Michigan are trying to change the way the world sees their community, the way the community sees itself, and perhaps how the community sees the world.

Autographed editions of Last Chance Mile are available at West Coast Coffee in downtown Grand Rapids and at Schuler Books & Music on 28th Street in Grand Rapids. Autographed editions will also be available during a special New Writers Event June 29 at Barnes & Noble in Woodland Mall, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American  Community is also available wherever books are sold online including Abbott Press.

Auto Manufacturing Growth Continues, Ford Won't Be Slowing Down This Summer

* Ford will add an additional 200,000 units of annual straight-time capacity this year after increasing annual straight-time capacity by 400,000 units in the region last year.
* Ford will shorten its summer shutdown from the traditional two weeks to one week for a majority of North American assembly plants, increasing production by an extra 40,000 units
* This year Ford plans to add close to 3,500 hourly jobs to meet customer demand for the company's best-selling vehicles.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) will add an additional 200,000 units of annual straight-time capacity this year. In addition, Ford will produce an extra 40,000 units by idling select plants for only one week during what has been the traditional two-week summer shutdown.

"To meet surging customer demand for our top-selling cars, utilities and trucks, we are continuing to run our North American facilities at full manned capacity, and we will add 200,000 units of annual straight-time capacity this year," said Jim Tetreault, vice president of North America Manufacturing. "Approximately 75 percent of our plants are running at a three-crew, three-shift or four-crew pattern in order to ensure we're getting more of our products into dealerships."

This is the second year in a row Ford has taken the action in order to meet strong demand for its products.

To meet demand for Ford vehicles, the company will add nearly 3,500 hourly jobs in 2013. With its latest announcement of more than 2,000 new jobs at Kansas City Assembly Plant, as well as more than 1,400 new jobs at Flat Rock Assembly Plant, Ford is three-quarters of the way to its plan to create 12,000 hourly jobs in the United States by 2015. 

The company hired more than 8,000 salaried and hourly employees in the U.S. last year.

Did any of us doubt Detroit could come back like this? Be honest. We stood on the edge of the abyss and looked straight down. Yet somehow we have pulled back. 

That story is told in Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance, a series of ebook essays beginning with The Great Collapse.

Restore the Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance is available through Amazon and Vook.com or wherever ebooks are sold.

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells the story of how the people of Grand Rapids, Michigan change the way the world sees their community and the way the community sees itself. 

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community is available wherever books are sold online including Amazon, Abbott Press and Barnes & Noble.

Autographed editions are available at West Coast Coffee in downtown Grand Rapids and Schuler Books & Music on 28th Street in Grand Rapids.

Brake Lights Come On Even When You Don't Touch The Pedal, New Idea Out Of San Diego

We have all been taken by surprise by a car in front of us that slows down suddenly. The driver might take his foot off the gas or might downshift, but he does not touch the brakes. 

Of course that means the brake lights don’t come on and accidents happen.

Now some innovative people in San Diego think they have the answer:

Vectolabs, LLC.  is raising funds to launch their patent pending brake light system they believe will change the brake light forever.  

Dubbed the Adaptive Perceptible Deceleration Indicator (APDI) by engineers at this innovative company, the product is designed to reduce the risk of rear end collisions by enhancing visibility.  An onboard accelerometer and microprocessor coupled with automotive grade LEDs alleviates 3 major deficiencies of current brake light systems

• Today's brake lights only appear when depressing the brakes.  Down shifting and engine braking slow your vehicle considerably although brake lights never illuminate
• Brake lights only indicate a driver is applying brakes without any indication of the level of urgency
• Driving distractions are on the rise and inattentive drivers might lose precious time by failing to notice brake lights in front of them

Vectolabs' proprietary algorithm alerts drivers behind the slowing car; whether the car is slowing by engine braking, downshifting or conventional braking.  In addition, two levels of flashing distinguish between normal deceleration and emergency braking. 

Vololights™ will be the branded product utilizing this technology in a motorcycle license plate frame.  "Vololights revolutionizes motorcycle safety.  With the ability to signal any method of deceleration in addition to alerting drivers how fast the rider is braking, Vololights could potentially reduce rear end collisions," said Ken Whalster.  Ken knows a thing or two about motorcycles; he is a rider and President of BikeBandit.com, the largest online powersports distributors cataloging 8 million parts.

This breakthrough technology is being well received by some in the media.  Vololights was featured in the popular Cycle World magazine as well as Gizmag.com.  Autoevolution.com even declared, "Vololights is just amazing!" 

Here’s something else that is worth noting. Check out how they are putting the money together for this:

The San Diego based start-up launched on the popular Kickstarter crowdfunding platform during May for Motorcycle Awareness Month.  The funding will be used for production molds to target the motorcycle and scooter markets. 

 Phase two will include multiple plate designs and eventually the company looks to adapt the technology to fleets and automobiles. 

"Following the company's mission to improve the lives of customers through unique and innovative products, we think motorcycle safety is a great place to start," said Faizal Ali, the company's co-founder and also an avid motorcyclist.

~LCP ~

Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance, an ebook essay series that tells the stories of the innovative entrepreneurs who are reviving Michigan manufacturing is now available through Amazon and Vook.com.

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells the story of how the people of Grand Rapids, Michigan have changed the way the world sees their community and the way the community sees itself.

Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community is available online through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Abbott Press.

Autographed editions of Last Chance Mile are available at West Coast Coffee in downtown Grand Rapids and at Schuler Books & Music on 28th Street in Grand Rapids or they can be ordered at www.rodkackley.com.