Ford tops safety awards list for 2009, has 16 winners

BY SARAH A. WEBSTER FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER November 24, 2008
Ford Motor Co. offers the most vehicles in America with top safety ratings, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The institute today released its "Top Safety Pick" awards list for 2009, which recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side and rear crashes, based on the institute's tests.
Ford had more winners than any other automaker -- 16 in all. Honda Motor Co. was second, with 13 winners. General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. tied with eight each.
In all, 72 vehicles made the list, double the number of winners a year ago.
Chrysler LLC, based in Auburn Hills, was the only major automaker that did not receive a single top safety pick. The institute said Chrysler could have picked up five awards "if the head restraints were better in the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring, the Sebring convertible, and the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country."
The institute said the larger number of Top Safety Picks was largely a consequence of the widespread adoption of electronic stability control, which the government has required for vehicles by the 2012 model year. The feature senses when a driver is about to lose control and helps the vehicle stabilize and avoid skidding or rolling over.
The institute requires the feature to qualify as a top safety pick.
At Ford, officials and employees were celebrating the news of their top safety performance.
"We want to set ourselves apart from the other American companies," Steve Kozak, Ford's safety chief engineer, told the Free Press on Monday. "We're ready and able to compete head-to-head with the Japanese."
Last month, Ford also won accolades from Consumer Reports for the high quality of its vehicles, which the trusted magazine said are now on par with those being produced by Toyota and Honda Motor Co.
So even though Ford is losing money and is part of the Detroit Three contingent seeking $25 billion in aid from Congress, many workers at Ford report feeling good about the company's prospects.
"We're very proud of this," said Kozak, who oversees a team of 167 engineers around the world.
The team engineers a variety of safety technologies, such as Ford's smart Personal Safety System, which deploys air bags based on the weight of passengers and the severity of the crash, among other factors.
"We're doing our part to help Ford succeed," Kozak said. "We just need to get past the downturn in the economy, and we need to get past the perception that the public has about Ford Motor Co."
Ford's winning vehicles included models from all of Ford's brands, which includes Ford, Mercury, Lincoln and Volvo, as well as one Mazda vehicle, the Tribute, which is built on the same platform as the Ford Escape, which also made the list.
Ford's list of winners also includes the F-150 pickup, which is part of the nation's best-selling F-Series lineup.
Honda's 13 winners included the Honda Fit with optional electronic-stability control -- the first microcar, which is smaller than a subcompact, to earn a top safety rating.
GM's winners included the Cadillac CTS, the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook large SUVs.
In response to Chrysler's poor performance -- which also follows a poor performance in Consumer Reports' quality ratings -- company spokesman Cole Quinnell told the Associated Press that Chrysler vehicles are equipped with a variety of safety features and the institute's results "are just one of the sources of information about a vehicle's crash performance."

Road trip with the 2009 Ford Flex: What a treat!

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's not Superman, but the all-new 2009 Ford Flex. Best described as an incredibly roomy "people hauler" with a unique style, the 2009 Ford Flex is Ford's newest entry in the growing crossover SUV market.

Like many new vehicles that are launched today, the 2009 Ford Flex has received its share of hype, but hype either fades fast or grows with increasing momentum, as people experience the vehicle in the real world. Our first test would be a good one. We loaded up four adults and the accompanying luggage, and headed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the weekend in Dark Ink Blue/Whitetop, 2009 Ford Flex Limited. This Flex Limited was equipped with AWD, a voice activated 8" color navigation screen that doubles as a rear view camera in reverse, a second row center console refrigerator that kept our bottled water chilled at 34 degrees, four, yes four, sunroofs, a centermounted rear DVD entertainment system, heated front and rear seats, power rear lift gate, and Ford's exclusive SYNC personal communication system, just to name a few.

The first thing we noticed on the interstate at 80 miles per hour was the silence. Conversations could be conducted with hushed tones, wind noise was non-exsistent, and only the faintest tire hum could be detected. It was almost like sitting in a soundproof room getting ready for an annual hearing test. Before reaching Luverne, Minnesota, though all the quiet was starting to counteract the effects of our early morning Starbucks coffee, so we decided to put in some CD's. Upon doing so, we soon realized that this Flex was not equipped with a 6 disc CD changer like you would expect, but with a jukebox that can record up to 2400 songs from your favorite CD's at the touch of a button. No more CD's on the visor or in the center console. What a treat!

As our trip continued on east to Milwaukee, a familiar comment continued to surface. It was all about the room. My right seat passenge, or co-pilot and cool new feature discoverer, is 6'7" and he had at least 5" inches of headroom and his knees didn't touch the dash...a first for him as a right seat passenger. Our wives were in the second row bucket seats commenting that while driving wasn't as fast as flying, they certainly had more roomy comfort than any 1st class airline could ever offer.

Our 1st gas stop was around Austin, Minnesota, where the Flex returned a respectable 22.3 miles per gallon, while averaging around 78 miles per hour. After hitting the road, it began to look dark and ominous, and a few large drops of rain began to fall. My co-pilot had been researching features on the navigation system, when he came across Sirius Travel Link. With a push of a button we suddenly had color weather radar superimposed on our route to Milwaukee. We knew right then, we had at least 50 miles of heavy rain ahead of us. After additional fiddling and research, he realized that not only could we pull up radar, but we could also pull up the gas prices at stations along our route. It appeared that gas prices 2 miles off the interstate seemed to be significantly less than those along the interstate, a fact we would use to our advantage during the remainder of our trip.

We made it to Milwaukee, had a great weekend and made it back safely. The Flex was certainly a hit with the valet at the hotel, and at every rest area we answered the same questions. What is that? Who makes it? And where can I find one to drive? No the Flex isn't Superman, but it sure made us feel that way.