Dearborn

Ford is expanding a recall of its popular F-Series truck line because of faulty airbags that can deploy unexpectedly and possibly lead to injuries, federal regulators said Thursday. The expanded action now includes some 1.2 million trucks from the 2004 through 2006 model years.

When Ford awarded CEO Alan Mulally more than $50 million in compensation for 2010's record profit it raised eyebrows around Detroit. Now, the UAW is using that big payday as a rallying point for members as it starts negotiations to regain some of what autoworkers gave up in concessions during the downturn.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Executive Chairman Bill Ford, have been awarded $56.5 million and $42.4 million in stock, respectively, in recognition for the company's stunning turnaround, which resulted in the automaker raking in $6.6 billion last year -- its best performance in more than a decade.

It was a good month for auto sales despite inclement weather across much of the country and surging oil prices. Cars sold near an annual pace of 13 million vehicles. That would make February the best on record since the "cash for clunkers" rebate program in 2009.

Ford reported Tuesday that its sales in February rose 14% compared to a year ago, in part due to strong sales of the revamped Ford Explorer sports-utility vehicle, the Fusion midsized sedan and the Ford Escape compact SUV. Total sales for the month hit 156,626.

Analysts forecast that Ford will announce a profit of 48 cents a share on revenue of about $30.6 billion when it releases earnings on Friday. That translates into an expected pretax profit of $8 billion in 2010, the best Ford has seen since 1999.

Some 3,000 workers at Ford Motor's (F) truck plant in Dearborn, Mich., have been idled because of a shortage of parts needed to manufacture engines installed in the company's popular line of pickup trucks. The workers will be on temporary layoff for about a week, The Detroit News reported. The...

The nation's second-largest automaker reported a healthy year-over-year sales increase that was led by strong demand for the Edge crossover and the F-Series pickups. Overall, Ford enjoyed its best month of retail sales in 2010.

The auto giant announced plans Monday to extend its start-stop technology -- a feature common to gas-electric hybrids -- to its conventional gasoline-powered passenger cars and SUVs as well.

Ford said Friday it plans to offer permanent positions to 500 temporary workers at a plant in Saarlouis, Germany, that will build the next-generation Focus compact car, which begins production next month. The plant will be the only supplier of the new Focus model to Western Europe.