Drew Dowdell

Ford is taking the frustration out of lining up to your trailer. At the New York Auto Show today, Ford will unveil Pro Trailer Hitch Assist, an A.I. powered driver's assist technology that uses machine learning to automatically line the truck up to the trailer. From distances of up to approximately 20 feet, the system uses the rear camera and two corner radar units to control the truck's speed, steering, and braking while the driver monitors the progress. Computer vision learning uses the truck's rear camera to identify the ball and trailer coupler. If the system detects an obstacle while in operation, it will alert the driver and stop the vehicle. Ford used hundreds of hours of video were collected to help train the system initially, but Pro-Trailer Hitch Assist will get smarter over time as more trailer image data is added and the vehicle's Ford Power-Up system receives over-the-air updates. The system will work in a broad range of terrain and weather conditions. Ford developed the technology in-house and has received 60 patents with 4 more pending. Pro-Trailer Hitch Assist is available now in the 2023 F-150, F-150 Lightning, and all-new 2023 F-series Super Duty. Pro Trailer Hitch Assist_04.mp4 View full article

I find it highly suspect that GM is #2 on that list. I expect they are being outsold by Hyundai. Hyundai and Kia count their sales separately, but Genesis sales get counted in with Hyundai as the parent company. Even if GM is actually number 2, the Ioniq 6, GV60, and GV70E are on the lots today, so that position won't last long. Ultium production ramp-up is painfully slow. The Hummers were on a stop-sale for the entire first quarter. I'm not expecting to see my EValanche until 2025 at the very earliest.

When you’re used to driving luxury cars and you end up with a base Ford Escape from the work fleet

It was a weird sequence of events. It did get some premium stuff. 1. When the LX cars came out, the Intrepid sedan was only replaced by the Magnum wagon. Daimler-Chrylser assumed that they could get people out of their sedans and into a wagon. 2. The 300 was originally released mostly in top trim forms powered by the Hemi. 3. DCX quickly realized that people were not going to buy the Magnum in Intrepid type numbers (Intrepid was a best seller at the time), so rather than rush out a Charger, they quickly added lower content trims to the 300. They used the low-end seats and interior bits from the base Magnum, the 2.7 liter engine, 17-inch plastic hubcaps, etc. 4. DCX, in an attempt to keep volumes up, pushed these low-end 300 models with cheap lease deals. This devalued the prestige. 5. The Charger came out 2 years after the Magnum/300 to take over the low end of the market, but the damage to the 300's prestige was already done. 6. With the 2011 refresh, Chrysler introduces the C Executive (later renamed Platinum), the S, the John Varvatos edition, and the SRT. The Executive series is what you see in the pictures I posted above. Unfortunately, in spite of the attempt to move up market, people didn't buy them that way.