Autocar 9/5/2018

DAVID RICHARDS HAS made a career out of problem solving. Not only has he run one of the most successful multi-discipline motorsport preparation teams in the shape of Prodrive, but he has also become a leading protagonist in the types of lightweight materials and hybrid technologies that will become omnipresent in road cars in the coming years. His latest diverse road projects include making an amphibious car (read more on p17) and turning ambulances from diesel smokers into hi-tech hybrids, while extra-curricular activities range from the development of lightweight folding bikes to America’s Cup racing yachts (see p52). Prodrive sounds like a great place to work, then, but there are a couple of problems Richards hasn’t yet been able to solve, namely the UK’s shortage of skilled engineering talent and the industry’s…

Ford is pressing ahead with its first all-new battery electric vehicle, a front-drive crossover – and it is committed to the Mondeo in Europe until the mid-2020s despite last week’s announcement that it is pulling out of the saloon and hatchback market in the US. The all-electric crossover, dubbed Mach 1 in reference to its Mustang-derived styling features, has been confirmed as a globally engineered model to be revealed next year, with UK deliveries starting in 2020. The crossover, codenamed CX430, will be built on the C2 platform used for the new Focus and has been in Ford’s product plan for several years. The CX430 will be additional to the Kuga and, since it is based on the front-wheel-drive C2 platform, it is expected to be conventional hatchback-like, with a slightly raised…

While Ford is betting on its upcoming electric car, it’s also bringing back a famous name, the Bronco, to reinvigorate its SUV line-up. The original Bronco arrived in 1966 and become an iconic model for Ford but was withdrawn in 1996. The last we saw of the Bronco was a concept shown in 2004. But last year, Ford said the name would return on a global SUV in 2020. It will take on the Jeep Compass and be more rugged than Ford’s current mainstream SUVs as the firm bids to reclaim the off-road market.…

There are multiple reasons behind Ford’s decision to can its US saloons and hatches, but the reality is that the company has fallen behind rivals in responding to the significant extra demand for utility vehicles, especially those based on car platforms. In many ways, it is to Ford’s credit: remember, Ford was the only one of the Big Three that didn’t go bust in the post-2007 recession and, to save the company, it cut back on new model programmes and focused on ‘One Ford’, a global efficiency strategy. However, One Ford didn’t generate sufficient creative and management energy to expand Ford’s range of car-like SUVs, so now Ford is playing catch-up. The irony of a company whose Explorer almost invented the utility segment in the US in the mid-1990s falling behind on SUVs…

‘Never say never’ is the answer universally delivered by car execs to a question that probes the long-term future. They know the fickle nature of the car industry, which can change direction significantly over a three- to five-year planning horizon. Of course, there is potential for Ford saloons to remain on sale in China, Europe, Latin America and Asia – even if they become as rare as hen’s teeth in the mothership of Detroit. And it is not unprecedented for car companies to return to segments that they have previously abandoned. Nissan, for example, solemnly pronounced in 2004 that it was exiting the C-segment hatchback market in Europe to pave the way for the Qashqai, launched two years later. The future of the C-segment hatch market was presented as debatable at a time…

Brabham Automotive has launched the BT62, a £1 million track-only 700bhp rival to the McLaren Senna, and the company is already planning future road cars and a Le Mans 24 Hours challenger. The Anglo-Australian brand is run by former Le Mans winner David Brabham, son of triple Formula 1 world champion Sir Jack, with backing from Australian investment firm Fusion Capital. The BT62 – which continues the nomenclature established by Brabham Sr’s Motor Racing Developments cars – is a rear-wheel-drive two-seater powered by a 5.4-litre naturally aspirated V8 quad-cam engine that produces 492lb ft of torque, directed through a six-speed sequential gearbox. Brabham claims the car produces more than 1200kg of downforce and weighs 972kg, giving a power-to-weight ratio of 720bhp per tonne. The engine is based on a block from an unnamed…