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Efficiency of a six-speed manual with the convenience of an auto
As light and sporty as a manual gearbox
Available on Focus and C-MAX
On-the-road prices from £18,195
BRENTWOOD, Essex, 23 June, 2008 – Ford Motor Company has added a high-tech new automatic transmission to its line-up, one which achieves the fuel economy of a manual gearbox but with the comfort and convenience of a normal auto.

Called “PowerShift”, the new lightweight transmission uses the latest electronically-controlled twin-clutch technology to change gear, and therefore does not need the complex and weighty sub-systems such as torque converter or planetary gears of regular auto boxes.

Not only efficient, the new six-speed PowerShift is simple to use and yet with a sporty personality. Both up and down-shifts are executed faster than normal auto gearboxes, and faster than drivers can achieve with a manual.

PowerShift is available on either the Ford Focus or C-MAX ranges and with the 2.0-litre TDCi diesel engine. Two states of tune are available, 136PS or 110PS. Regardless of power rating, body style or series, all Focus models equipped with PowerShift offer a combined fuel economy of 48.6mpg, with average CO2 emissions of just 154 g/km while C-MAX delivers 47.9mpg and 159g/km.
Driving with the Ford PowerShift transmission is as simple and easy as a conventional automatic transmission. The system uses a standard automatic gear lever in the centre console with the usual P, R, N and D settings. The gear lever can also be moved laterally to a parallel gate should the driver choose a sportier style and the option of shifting manually.

Carl Edwards won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Milwaukee. He remains fourth in the standings.

David Gilliland was the top Ford driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Sonoma, Calif., finishing second in the No. 28 Fusion. Gilliland moved up two spots in the standings to 21st.

Erik Darnell was the top Ford driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Milwaukee, finishing fourth in the No. 99 F-150. Darnell moved up two spots in the standings to eighth place.

Mike Neff, driver of the Old Spice Mustang, was the runner-up in the NHRA race in Englishtown, N.J. Neff moved up one spot in the standings to eighth place.

Brian Friselle and Mark Wilkins were the top Ford drivers in the Rolex Series race in Lexington, Ohio, finishing fourth in the No. 61 Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype.

Jamie Slone won the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge race in the No. 6 Mustang FR500S at Lexington, Ohio.

DEARBORN, Mich., June 22, 2008 - Defending Nationwide Series Champion Carl Edwards earned his first victory of the season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Milwaukee, while David Gilliland and Mike Neff each garnered runner-up finishes in their respective series on a busy weekend for Ford Racing.

Edwards’ victory was the 14th Nationwide Series win in his career and was his first in the Series in just more than a year. He remains fourth in the standings.

“It just feels good to win a race - for our team, for everybody at the shop and all the guys who have been working hard and sticking with this program even though we haven’t won a race in a long time,” Edwards said. “It means a lot to have all that support. This win is a huge relief.”

Edwards’ teammate David Ragan also had a strong performance, finishing fourth and moving up one spot in the standings to fifth place.

Edwards carried his momentum into the NASCAR Sprint Cup race the following day in Sonoma, Calif., finishing ninth to remain fourth in the standings. David Gilliland led the rest of the Ford drivers across the line with a career-best second-place finish.

“Our strategy was pretty good,” said Gilliland. “We’ve done a lot of road-course testing to try to our fuel mileage the best we can, and the cautions fell right for us today, too. It put us in a position to be able to run in the top six or seven there, and we were able to stay up there, our car was good enough to stay up there, which is good. I think for the last about 80 percent of the race we were up there.”

Matt Kenseth also joined Gilliland and Edwards in the top 10, with an eighth place finish. Kenseth’s sixth straight top-10 finish moved him into 12th place in the standings, the final transfer spot for the championship Chase.

Marcos Ambrose, who was making his Sprint Cup debut, and Jamie McMurray each had a legitimate chance at victory before being collected in wrecks. Both drivers were running in second when they were collected.

Erik Darnell was the top Ford driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Milwaukee. After winning last weekend, Darnell was seeking back-to-back victories and led for 32 laps before eventually finishing fourth.

Darnell moved up two spots in the standings to eighth place. Rick Crawford remains the top Ford driver in the standings after an eight-place result. Crawford sits fifth in the standings, just 109 points behind leader Johnny Benson.

In the NHRA race in Englishtown, N.J., Mike Neff made it to the final round for the third time in five weeks. Neff defeated Ron Caps in the first round, Tony Pedregon in the second round and teammate John Force in the third round before losing to Tim Wilkerson in the final.

“It was another close one, but as a driver you need to win those,” said Neff. “I didn’t do my job right there. I was late. I should have had a good enough light to get us a win right there, so I am really disappointed with myself.”

Neff moved up one spot to eighth place in the standings. Ashley Force remains second in the standings, 132 points behind Wilkerson, while John Force moved up one spot in the standings to third place.

Meanwhile, in Lexington, Ohio, Jamie Slone’s No. 6 Ford Mustang FR500S was the dominant car of the weekend in the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Slone took the pole in qualifying and led from flag-to-flag to win.

The Grand-Am Rolex Series was also in action at Mid-Ohio as three Ford’s finished in the top 10. Brian Friselle and Mark Wilkins were the top Ford finishers with a fourth place showing in the No. 61 Ford-Rile Daytona Prototype.

Next weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series will be in Loudon, N.H., while the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be at Memphis, Tenn. The NHRA will also be in action in Norwalk, Ohio.

Honda (http://www.honda.com) has fully deployed its fleet of Auto-Max® railcars, achieving a significant reduction in the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions associated with its automobile distribution activities in the United States. The 400-car fleet of more space-efficient Auto-Max railcars is the only such automaker-operated fleet in use in the United States. Including the Auto-Max fleet shipments, American Honda currently transports about 82 percent of its Honda and Acura automobiles across the country by rail, achieving the highest rail-shipping rate of any automaker.

Each multi-level Auto-Max railcar holds up to 22 vehicles and can hold both trucks and cars to reduce unused space. The result is less fuel usage per vehicle shipped and no compromise to quality. An average bi-level railcar can transport only 10 trucks, generally of a single vehicle type.

Honda’s Auto-Max railcars have a 50-year estimated lifespan versus standard railcars, which typically require a major overhaul after just 20 years of service. Honda participated with the Greenbrier Companies (NYSE:GBX) in designing Auto-Max, which is exclusively manufactured by Greenbrier.

“Honda is adopting a holistic approach to minimizing its greenhouse gas emissions, addressing not only the production and on road use of our products, but also new, more fuel-efficient strategies for how we transport our products to dealers,” said Dennis Manns, assistant vice president, Sales & Logistics Planning for American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “Rail is the most environmentally responsible method available to move our products, and our Auto-Max railcar fleet can make a good system even more fuel efficient.”

To further support Honda’s strategy to increase product distribution by rail, Honda this year invested approximately $7 million to redesign the rail infrastructure at its automobile plants in Marysville and East Liberty, Ohio. The redesign added rail capacity, enabling American Honda to ship more units via rail. Further, inbound and outbound trains at the plant can now operate at a faster pace; pull easier on upgraded tracks; and, require less railcar switching in the yard, reducing fuel consumption, CO2, and other air pollutants emissions that are produced while engines are left idling.

According to CSX, which serves Honda’s rail operations in Ohio, the infrastructure improvement contributes an annual savings of 2,436 gallons of fuel and 54,432 pounds of CO2 per year.

Honda is globally committed to minimizing air emissions from its products and factories. Honda is working to achieve its goals by reducing CO2 emissions by improving the energy efficiency of Honda manufacturing plants and by improving the fuel efficiency of its automobile, powersports and power equipment products. Honda’s legacy of environmental leadership includes a long list of industry firsts, including the world’s first low-emission vehicles, America’s first gasoline-electric hybrid car, and the world’s first EPA-certified hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. In 2007, Honda was named the “Greenest Automaker” by the Union of Concerned Scientists for the fourth consecutive time.

· DTM season highlight at the Norisring
· Norisring simulation on airfield
· Intensive preparation for the DTM’s sole street race
Ingolstadt – Another huge event is on the Audi Sport race schedule only 14 days after the Audi R10 TDI prototype’s magnificent victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans: The Norisring race in Nuremburg, the Audi team’s “home race”.

Thousands of Audi fans and employees from Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm flood year for year to the exceedingly popular DTM race. Last season a total of 141,000 spectators followed the only street race on the DTM calendar. They last celebrated an Audi victory in 2002 when Frenchman Laurent Aiello overtook Mercedes driver Bernd Schneider on the last lap in a heart stopping manoeuvre on his way to winning the championship.

The best Norisring result posted by the Audi A4 DTM since then comes from the 2005 season. Then, Christian Abt and Mattias Ekström took second and third places respectively. However, this should change on the last weekend in June: The first Audi A4 DTM victory in Nuremberg is the goal targeted by the Audi squad.

The foundations for this were already created last year: During development of the new A4 DTM, which bears the project name “R14″ internally, the unique demands of the mere 2.3-kilometre street circuit in Nuremberg, specifically a low Cd value, good traction and stable brakes, were taken into account. In addition, suspension and aerodynamics must master the bumps which change from year to year and which traditionally make life for the drivers difficult.

To prepare perfectly for the race in the Franconian metropolis the circuit was simulated on an airfield. Two current A4 and a year old car were in action for this purpose. The test results confirmed the Audi wind tunnel values and the computer simulation.

Nevertheless, the team under Head of Audi Motorsport does face an difficult task: Opponent Mercedes is traditionally very strong at the Norisring. As a rule, qualifying boils down to hundredths and thousandths of seconds. Barely a single Norisring race finishes without spectacular incidents and Safety Car periods.

It will be particularly difficult for the year-old Audis, which must weigh-in with five kilograms more than the 2008 cars from Audi and Mercedes following the excellent results in the previous races.

In spite of the final of the European Football Championship being played on the same weekend, the organisers expect a full-house again next to the Dutzendteich this year. Practice in Nuremberg starts on Friday. Qualifying starts on Saturday at 1:28 p.m. local time, the race on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. local time. ARD broadcasts qualifying and the race live on “Das Erste”. Free practice is broadcast on www.dtm.tv on the internet. Highlights and background stories can be seen on www.audi.tv.

Quotes before the race at the Norisring

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “The Norisring race is obviously very important to us. Audi employees and fans come in hordes and it goes without saying that we want to give them something to cheer about. Over the last few years we’ve seen that the circuit doesn’t quite suit the concept of our car since downforce is not an absolute priority at the Norisring. However, we are in a good position in the championship and have done everything to prepare ourselves as good as possible for the Norisring.”

Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #1): “It’s always been my dream to win the race at the Norisring. It is my eighth year at Audi and my eighth attempt. I’ll do everything to run at the front and to finally win this race.”

Martin Tomczyk (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #2): “The Norisring is not only my home race but also that of Audi. In spite of this I go there in two minds. The track is fantastic, especially the surroundings. However, over the last few years I never really got to grips with it. But things can and do change. Whatever happens I want to be right at the front in my home race.”

Tom Kristensen (Audi A4 DTM #9): “I’m looking forward to the Norisring. This year Audi Sport has built a car with which we are better on exactly those circuits where we were traditionally weak. The Norisring was certainly a weak point up to now. I think that it’ll be very close between Audi and Mercedes this year. This boosts our motivation. This race is the DTM race which everybody wants to win – it’s Germany’s Monaco.”

Timo Scheider (GW: plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM #10): “It’s great that we can take out another ten kilograms handicap ballast after the race on the EuroSpeedway and we are now equal with the 2008 Mercedes. This means that the we all start from scratch again. Nuremburg has traditionally been a tough nut to crack for us. However, we’ve worked hard to do a good job there and to give the employees and guests of Audi a good show.”

Alexandre Prémat (Audi Bank/Shell Helix Audi A4 DTM #14): “I’m really looking forward to the Norisring. I’ve won there twice in Formula 3. I’m a great fan of street races and am always very fast around the houses. Last year I fought my way from 15th on the grid to score points in eighth position. I want to score points again this year even though we have heaviest car on the grid.”

Oliver Jarvis (Best Buddies Audi A4 DTM #15): “This’ll be my first Norisring race. I can hardly wait to get there and see the scores of fans. To learn the circuit I’ve watched some DVDs and played computer games. I’m ready.”

Mike Rockenfeller (S line Audi A4 DTM #18): “It really will be an uphill struggle for us since we’ll have the heaviest car in the entire field. Nevertheless, I really can’t wait. The Norisring has a unique atmosphere and is always something special – the only street race that we have. The grandstands are always absolutely packed there.”
Markus Winkelhock (Playboy Audi A4 DTM #19): “After Hockenheim the Norisring is as good as a second home race for me. Since I live in Stuttgart, Nuremburg isn’t that far away. I’ve always been quick around the Norisring and I love the track. It can only get better after the way things went at the EuroSpeedway.”

Katherine Legge (Audi A4 DTM #20): “I have some experience with street races from my Champ Car days. Everybody says that the atmosphere at the Norisring is fantastic which is why I so looking forward to the race after the five-week DTM break.”

Christijan Albers (Audi A4 DTM #21): “The Norisring is always a very special event with its great atmosphere. I hope that we’ll be good there. I think we should be closer to the new cars with the 2006 cars. We’ll see what’s possible.”

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “As Bavarian team we always look forward to the Norisring. It is not only the highlight for Audi but also for our team. I think we are better prepared for the Norisring than ever before. We run with the same weight as Mercedes. I’m expecting a very exciting race. After 2002, it’s about time we won again for Audi.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): “The Norisring is the highlight of the entire year. As far as the circuit characteristics are concerned the high weight that our 2007 cars must carry will certainly not help us. However, our two drivers have no problems with low downforce. I’m looking forward to the fantastic atmosphere and expect a tough race.”

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): “I’m only actually looking forward to the Dutzendteich. When I just think about the weight of our cars I feel bad… As always we’ll try to make the best with what we have.”

The schedule at the Norisring

Friday, 27 June
08:45 – 09:00 Roll-out
10:00 – 11:30 Test 1
14:00 – 15:30 Test 2

Saturday, 28 June
09:30 – 10:30 Free Practice
13:28 – 14:15 Qualifying (live on “Das Erste” starting at 1:30 pm.)

Sunday, 29 June
11:50 – 12:10 Warm-up
14:03 Race (live on “Das Erste” starting at 1:45 p.m.)

DTM drivers’ standings after 4 of 11 rounds:

1 Timo Scheider GW: plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM 26
2 Paul di Resta Mercedes 23
3 Jamie Green Mercedes 21
4 Mattias Ekström Red Bull Audi A4 DTM 20
5 Martin Tomczyk Red Bull Audi A4 DTM 17
6 Bruno Spengler Mercedes 14
7 Tom Kristensen Audi A4 DTM 12
8 Bernd Schneider Mercedes 8
9 Oliver Jarvis Best Buddies Audi A4 DTM 5
10 Markus Winkelhock Playboy Audi A4 DTM 5
11 Mike Rockenfeller S line Audi A4 DTM 2
12 Gary Paffett Mercedes 2
13 Alexandre Prémat Audi Bank/Shell Helix Audi A4 DTM 1

DTM team standings after 4 of 11 rounds:

1 Audi Sport Team Abt 38
2 Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG 37
3 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline 37
4 Salzgitter/Original-Teile AMG Mercedes 29
5 Audi Sport Team Rosberg 7
6 Audi Sport Team Phoenix 6
7 stern/Pixum AMG Mercedes 2