Ford has announced that it will be focusing on developing a new Rear-Wheel-Drive design for its new models under the Lincoln and Ford brand names.
It may be remembered that since the late 1980’s car manufacturer’s had favored the front-wheel-drive (FWD) design over the RWD design for passenger car models. But RWD architecture was always preferred for heavier and more powerful engines (greater than 300 HP) as they overcome problems of understeering that happens when using FWD design in such vehicles. Also, using RWD provides for better weight distribution in these cars.
This announcement was in keeping with market expectations from the company and perhaps Ford CEO Alan Mulally admitted that the company bosses had mulled over the decision when he said ‘It’s important going forward‘ on the occasion.
While not revealing details, the company has stated that it has earmarked it’s Australian operation as the R&D location for the new project.
[Source: EGMCarTech]
