TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Ford Motor Co. is enlisting its dealers as it fires back in a horsepower battle between diesel-powered heavy-duty pickups.

Ford will begin production this week of the most powerful diesel engine ever installed in a heavy-duty pickup, Barb Samardzich, vice president of powertrain engineering, said here today at the CAR Management Briefing Seminars.

Dealers will make sure pickup buyers who purchased Ford’s brawniest truck over the last four months get the power boost, too. Continue reading Ford, its dealers, upgrade diesels on Super Duty pickups

Ford Motor Co. today said its European new-car sales grew 16.1 percent in March, making it Europe’s top-selling brand for the month — but the automaker asked governments to consider new incentives to maintain sales following the ending of scrappage subsidies in key markets.

“Ford has had a great March and first quarter sales performance, but we can expect some further challenges in the months ahead as more scrappage schemes are phased out,” said Wolfgang Schneider, Ford of Europe’s vice president for legal, governmental and environmental affairs. Continue reading Ford says 16% March sales increase makes it No.1 in Europe

MILAN (Bloomberg) — Sogefi S.p.A., the Italian auto parts supplier controlled by financier Carlo De Benedetti, aims to return to profit in 2010 by selling more components in the United States to Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.

Sogefi will probably more than double U.S. revenue in the next two years to about 5 percent of total sales, CEO Emanuele Bosio said in an interview at company headquarters in Milan. Supplying auto parts to Fiat S.p.A., Italy’s biggest manufacturer, helped Sogefi win a contract to provide engine-oil filters for a model that Chrysler, a Fiat affiliate, is developing, he said.

Suppliers based in the European Union, where CO2 emissions limits will be tightened starting in 2012, are in a position to expand in the United States as auto manufacturers respond to President Barack Obama’s moves to impose stricter rules for vehicles’ fuel use and air pollution, Bosio said. Ford is adding to its lineup of small cars, while Turin-based Fiat plans to introduce its 500 model in cooperation with Chrysler. Continue reading Sogefi targets 2010 profit on parts sales to Ford, Chrysler