Ford's plan to fast-track its new 2009 F-150 pickup truck has hit a big snag: $4-a-gallon-gas. As a result of booming gas prices, the company will delay the launch of the new truck by several months.

Ford said in a release today that it is taking "decisive action to respond to this accelerating shift in customer demand away from large trucks and SUVs to smaller cars and crossovers." In addition to cutting production of other large trucks, Ford will push back the launch of the new F-150 by two months, putting it in showrooms in late fall.

"Our plan all along has been to introduce the new F-150 after our dealers had a chance to sell down inventory of the existing model," Ford president Mark Fields said in a release, "and - with the current slowdown in the marketplace - we decided it was prudent to adjust the start of public sale for the new truck by about two months."

Ford needs the time to clear inventory of 2008 models, but the move will almost ensure that the company will turn a loss for the fourth consecutive year. The company will also idle truck plants in Kansas City and Dearborn, and cut a production shift at both plants, while it adds production for the Ford Escape, Edge, and Flex crossovers. A third shift will be added to the Focus plant as well, giving Ford more compacts to sell as its newly updated 2008 Focus stays an unexpected hit.

Ford also confirmed today that its European Ford Focus will replace the current car in late 2010, and will be built in North America. Four- and five-door versions of that new compact will be offered for sale in the U.S.

This won't come as a surprise to anyone who actually owns a teenager--here at TheCarConnection.com, we have the pink slip on two of them--but according to Ford itself, the most popular car for teen drivers is the Ford Mustang.

Shocked? Not really, but Ford went to the lengths of commissioning a study from a group called Teenage Research Unlimited, which also counts Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike, and Adidas among its clients. TRU says when asked which new car they'd most like to buy, most teens picked the Mustang.

In part, it's because the Mustang is an omnipresent American icon--in ads, in TV shows like the new Knight Rider, and in films. In greater part, maybe it's because at around $20,000 base, "It's a little more realistic than other much more expensive sports cars," says brand manager Fritz Wilke.

Of course, that "affordable" price tag doesn't include insurance and fuel. And since only about 1.2 percent of new car buyers are under 21, it's up to teen Mustang owner wannabes to convince their parents that the Mustang is safe and affordable.

Our advice: start whining now before the first college bills come in. The 2009 Mustang's on sale now, and this year's run is a short one in anticipation of the refreshed 2010 model. While you try to con the parents, let's ask those walking checkbooks: Is the Mustang an appropriate first car? Give us your off-the-cuff answer in a comment below.

A few weeks ago, I told you about the 2009 Ford Flex in depth from a first drive in New York City--but held off on some details at Ford's request while the dead-tree media world caught up to speed.

Now that Ford's embargo on driving impressions has expired, it's time to talk about how the Flex drives. And for Ford, it's good news.

For starters, the Flex feels amply powerful for most driving in and out of the city. The 3.5-liter V-6 has enough power to get the job done, though there's a slight amount of engine roar at the top of the rev range. The most noticeable trait of the engine is that it's not often noticed; it executes on command, with few complaints. Still, I can't wait to see what Ford's 315-horsepower EcoBoost V-6 would do in this application.

The Flex's six-speed automatic transmission is related to the unit used in GM’s big crossover vehicles--Ford and GM joined forces to build the transmissions, but each has its own programming. In the Flex, the six-speed seems to hunt for gears less. Regardless of the circumstances we encountered, heading northeast into WASPy Connecticut or back into the city, the Flex's gearbox always extracted enough power to respond quickly to the throttle.

The Flex's handling is fine for a vehicle of its size,too. Its steering feel is smooth and fairly lightweight, if a little slow on response in the all-wheel-drive model I tested. It's a huge improvement over cars like Ford's own Explorer, which is pretty numb at every angle of the steering wheel, and even matches the new Honda Pilot, while completely outpointing the Pilot on matters of taste and style.

Maybe the best quality of the 2009 Ford Flex is its ride. It’s not soft and not firm, just ideally tuned to a comfortable setting that keeps its vertical motions controlled while absorbing most of the atrocious impacts you can find on the Sawmill Parkway--or Lexington Avenue. The Flex doesn't use an air suspension or complex suspension technology to get this sophisticated feel--just a well-tuned multilink rear suspension. Sure, there's body roll to be expected from a big crossover, but Ford's clearly been watching how its country cousins at Mazda tuned their own big CX-9.

In overall performance, the Flex is surprise-free, and if it’s not terribly exciting, it is certainly more than amply powerful and quiet. And in all, the Flex feels confident, assured--and fresh. I used to believe that Honda's Pilot had few peers in this class, but it's grown kludgy and thick; the Flex and Buick's Enclave are now the class of the class, and Ford's superior in-car features give it my nod.

Decide for yourself, though--you can read my full review of the 2009 Ford Flex and get more details on the Flex and on the opinions of some other respected Web sources, too.

If you need a full-size truck--there are still a few of you out there, I'm sure--Ford's latest deal could cut through the gas-prices haze.

Ford's offering a pricing deal on big F-Series trucks reminiscent of the deals it offered in the post-9/11 months. Through the end of this month, the automaker is giving everyone the pricing that it gives to employees on its F-Series trucks.

The Harley edition F-Series and commercial-cab models aren't included in the deal, but some cash rebates are included.

Last month, Ford's F-Series lost its 24-year hold on the best-selling vehicle title to the Honda Civic. F-Series trucks still lead the yearlong sales race, but in May, the trucks finished behind the Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and Toyota Corolla to finish fifth among all vehicles sold. In May, F-Series sales dropped 31 percent.

The F-Series is in its last model year before an extensively revised 2009 Ford F-150 hits the market later in 2008.

TheCarConnection.com's spies managed to get their closest look yet inside the reworked 2010 Ford Mustang with these latest shots of the exterior and interior.

It appears that the 2010 Ford Mustang's interior is a mix of carryover bits and some new elements. A new steering wheel maintains the current car's three "open spoke" design, but the new wheel gets a double stack of controls, with cruise control buttons on the left, and multimedia buttons on the right to operate the 'Stang's updated SYNC interface.

It appears that the revised 2010 Ford Mustang will maintain the current car's instrument pod, but this prototype shows new white-faced gauges, and the speedometer and tachometer have switched places (the speedo's on the left, tach's on the right). The updated interior also gets new air vents, with slightly more upscale actuation. The current 'Stang's four round air vents have been changed on this prototype: a round vent remains to the left of the steering wheel, but two rectangular vents now reside at the top of the center stack.

Speaking of the center stack, we can't comment on the changes in store, due to the covering still in place over the controls. We'll keep peering inside of 2010 Ford Mustang prototypes until we can see what lies behind. The rest of the interior appears to be very similar to the current car, but there are differences to the switchgear and design of the transmission tunnel.

This prototype also gave us a solid look at the new Mustang's headlight and taillight designs, which are included to round out the story.--KGP Photography