By Frank S. Washington Santa Monica, Calif., -- Four out of five cars sold in the U.S. last year were midsize sedans. And Ford is making a serious push to get a bigger slice of that market which is expected to grow even larger. The Fusion is a global car. Ford will produce it and its sister model, the Mondeo, in Flat Rock, Mich.; Hermosillo, Mexico; Genk, Belgium; Russia and China. We came here to test driv ...

By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist When I was in the process of reading and writing about Nielsen and the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s report on African-American buying power for this week’s Black newspapers, I was reminded of how many top companies continue to take advantage of Black consumers while providing little, if anything, in return. They are not the only ones at fault – so are we. Peo ...

By Frank S. Washington DETROIT – A 2012 Buick Verano was delivered to me on a Friday and I was headed down Interstate 75 to Toledo on Saturday. My point is that I got a chance to test drive Buick’s entry level sedan in several traffic environments. I had a full load. Two 11-year-olds and a four-year-old occupied the back seats and the mother of one my backseat passengers was in the front.  Although all of t ...

By Frank S. Washington Phoenix, AZ – We came here to test drive several new Volvos. They had been tweaked a little with more horsepower and torque and some adjustments to the steering and the suspensions. But to me this program was really about Volvo staying in position. For years, Volvo has enjoyed rarified air. It was niche above most mere mortal automotive machines and just beneath the vaunted German lux ...

By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist   The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) convened a series of forums last year that explored abusive auto lending practices. The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), a participant in those roundtables, has issued a new research report on deceitful practices that take advantage of unsuspecting customers. The report, Deal or No Deal: How Yo-Yo Scams Rig the Game against Ca ...