What Ford Will Look Like in 2012

After we wrote our reports on the upcoming Ford, Lincoln and Mercury lineups, Cars.com intern Colin Bird pointed out a few interesting tidbits Ford mentioned about those future lineups beyond what we already covered.

Using the mantra “One Ford,” the company says it will build just one global midsize sedan, unifying the American Ford Fusion and European Ford Mondeo in the next five years. We’re hoping the Mondeo (shown above) wins out. That would make sense, as it is considerably smaller than the Ford Taurus.

In less mass-market news, Ford also says it will consolidate its cargo vans. Say goodbye to the E-Series as you know it and hello to something better able to meet future government fuel-efficiency rulings, like the Transit (shown above), not to be confused with the smaller Transit Connect already announced as a 2010 U.S. model.

For those interested, there was also a slew of news about fuel-saving technology that’s intended to be phased in throughout Ford’s lineup by 2012. Again, this sounds like a move to meet new CAFE standards.

Ford says it will introduce a six-speed automatic transmission with PowerShift that will rival the mileage ratings manual transmissions manage. Things like start-stop engines that shut off when cars come to a stop to conserve fuel, electric power steering and direct injection will be added.

Ford says its EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder engines will be introduced in North America for 2010 as well. The V-6 turbo engines are intended to be introduced in calendar year 2009 in the Lincoln MKS, Ford Flex and redesigned Ford Taurus.