2006 Ford E-150 Base Standard Cargo Van 2-door 4.6l Great Condition on 2040-cars

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DoJ fines Japanese parts firms $740M in massive automotive price-fixing scandal

Nine Japanese suppliers have pleaded guilty in US court over charges of price fixing in the automotive parts industry, resulting in the Department of Justice doling out a total of $740 million of fines, according to a report from Bloomberg. The scandal, which has resulted in General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Chrysler spending up to $5 billion on inflated parts and driving up prices on 25 million vehicles has sent the DoJ hustling into investigations. "The conduct this investigation uncovered involved more than a dozen separate conspiracies aimed at the U.S. economy," Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured above) said during yesterday's press conference.
As the investigation stands, the DoJ has issued $1.6 billion in fines against 20 companies and 21 individual executives, with 17 of the execs headed to prison. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Scott Hammond said, "The breadth of the conspiracies brought to light today are as egregious as they are pervasive. They involve more than a dozen separate conspiracies operating independently but all sharing in common that they targeted US automotive manufacturers."
Big-name suppliers indicted in the investigation include Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi Automotive and Mitsuba Corporation. A list of fines and other corporations named in the investigation is available at Bloomberg.

Evo grabs Ford's Fiesta R5 rally car by the scruff

Evo and host Henry Catchpole were thinking of excuses reasons to borrow the bonkers Ford Fiesta R5 rally car for a day or two, when it struck them: the car is street legal. With access to the R5, some of the world's most beautiful driving roads in the English Lake Country nearby, and a handy video crewing hanging around, the plan seemed to write itself.
Based on the resulting video, it was a good plan. Without spoiling the video for you - something we can't really do in text as the best part is listening to the rally car run - Catchpole finds the Fiesta to be sublimely quick and massively satisfying. Even taking the car for a spin on a pseudo rally stage, after leaving the English countryside, does nothing but add to his assessment of the beastly little Ford. Scroll on below to see for yourself, and enjoy the ride.

Ford Fusion getting substantial refresh for 2017

It's only been a couple of years since Ford rolled out the current Fusion, but if these spy shots are anything to go by, it's already planning what appears to be a substantial update for the mid-size sedan.
According to our paparazzi on the ground, the new Fusion is being prepared for launch late in 2016 or early 2017. Although heavily camouflaged to keep it from prying eyes such as ours, it appears that the updated Fusion will tone down the Aston Martin-style grille, ditch the small corner window with revised front side glass and tweak the vehicle's overall shape. But there's more to the new Fusion than a styling adjustment, and our spy photographers have caught a glimpse inside and taken us along.
Apparently the new Fusion is to get a completely overhauled interior with soft-touch surfaces and matte wood trim to make it seem more upscale. There's an all-new rotary gear selector (like you'd find on a Jaguar, for example) hinting at the implementation of a new nine-speed automatic transmission. The prototype appears to be packing the Microsoft SYNC system, suggesting that the new Blackberry QNX system isn't ready quite yet - though that doesn't necessarily mean it won't be ready by the time the new Fusion is.