[2001 ZTS]

Ford poised for big hybrid push

Auto maker plans fuel-efficient versions of half its models, wants to produce 250K by '10.

September 21, 2005; Posted: 11:49 a.m. EDT (1549 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Ford Motor Co. plans to speed up its hybrid strategy and offer the fuel-efficient gas-electric cars on half its models in the next five years, according to a published report.

Ford Chairman and CEO William Ford Jr. announced the plan Wednesday.

Ford plans to ramp up hybrid production from several thousand this year to 250,000 by 2010. The company also plans to increase the number of flexible fuel vehicles, which can run on either pure gasoline or gasoline blended with ethanol, too 280,000 units by 2006.

Ford started selling its first hybrid vehicle, a version of its compact sport/utility vehicle Escape, in August 2004, and a hybrid version of its twin, the Mercury Mariner, in July this year, a year earlier than originally planned.

William Ford has been a longtime champion of environmental causes, but the nation's No. 2 auto manufacturer's main source of profit in recent years has been pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles that get poor gas mileage. But record gasoline prices and concerns that oil prices could stay high in the long term have auto manufacturers and car buyers taking a closer look at fuel economy of vehicles.

The U.S. auto manufacturers have trailed their Japanese counterparts in development and sales of hybrid vehicles.

Even with the new hybrid push by Ford, it won't necessarily close the gap with competitors such as Toyota Motor Co., which announced at the Frankfurt auto show last week that it intends to offer hybrid versions of all of its models, although it did not give a time frame to reach that target. Toyota also said it expects to make as many as 400,000 hybrid vehicles in 2006.

Ford Chief Operating Officer Jim Padilla complained to reporters Tuesday that it could be offering more hybrid vehicles if it weren't for the shortage of specialized components, and he blamed some Japanese auto manufacturers for the shortage.

"It is a supply issue, and it's supply of several technologies," Padilla said at the Reuters Summit in Detroit. "The Japanese have shown a little bit of a predatory approach."

[Crazirich]

I went for a ride in a hybrid escape yesterday, it was knida cool. the engine revs at 1500 idle but your still accelerating with a whirring sound from the electric, it felt weird.

[focuzedn2o]

i think they wil do really well in certain markets though. a good thing for comuters and long distance drivers. i really think they need to do something to boost there sales. yhey need to get there s**t together.

[meford4u]

They need a price reduction to get the public interested. I believe the Escape Hybrid is 12k over the price of the same vehicle/non-hybrid. You gotta save a lot of fuel to make that worthwhile.

[focuzedn2o]

u r so right man! they need to really sit down and think this thru better.

[K_OS]

it's not only Ford that needs to bring the price of Hybrids but it's everyone else too, a Toyota Prius can be had for as litle as $30,730 but with all the frills it can go as high as $38,145 that's ridiculous for a car that big.

Laterz :)

[FocusGuy7476]

think that hybrids are more pratical in the city than on the highway.

[OAC_Sparky]

FocusGuy7476,Sep 21 2005, 04:36 PM Wrote:think that hybrids are more pratical in the city than on the highway.
[right][snapback]143723[/snapback][/right]

Right. On the highway the ICE runs most of the time and the vehicle is in fact less efficient than its normally powered counterpart.

As for reducing the cost, that will take time. The technology is so new that there is only a handful of suppliers that can provide components, and the compnents are priced accordingly. As hybrids become commonplace, just like every other technology, the prices should come down.

[NOS2Go4Me]

The Prius gets the best economy city/highway out of any commerically-available hybrid in the US/Canada today.

70 MPG around town, 67 MPG on the highway.

[OAC_Sparky]

NOS2Go4Me,Sep 22 2005, 11:42 AM Wrote:The Prius gets the best economy city/highway out of any commerically-available hybrid in the US/Canada today.

70 MPG around town, 67 MPG on the highway.
[right][snapback]143908[/snapback][/right]

Yes, and the Prius is also the SMALLEST commercially available hybrid. A motorcycle gets better mileage than a Prius. So does a Vespa. Wouldn't want to try to lug a family of five, the dog, and a weekend's worth of camping equipment in a Prius.

Easy to say it has the best mileage when you compare apples to oranges. ;)

And BTW, the Prius's mileage claims are bogus.

http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/cons...050907.htm

[Kool_ZX3]

OAC_Sparky,Sep 22 2005, 01:09 PM Wrote:

NOS2Go4Me,Sep 22 2005, 11:42 AM Wrote:The Prius gets the best economy city/highway out of any commerically-available hybrid in the US/Canada today.

70 MPG around town, 67 MPG on the highway.
[right][snapback]143908[/snapback][/right]

Yes, and the Prius is also the SMALLEST commercially available hybrid. A motorcycle gets better mileage than a Prius. So does a Vespa. Wouldn't want to try to lug a family of five, the dog, and a weekend's worth of camping equipment in a Prius.

Easy to say it has the best mileage when you compare apples to oranges. ;)

And BTW, the Prius's mileage claims are bogus.

http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/cons...050907.htm
[right][snapback]143915[/snapback][/right]

I think the only hybrid within it's epa estimates is the escape hybrid, the japs overrate everything.

[Raine]

Hybrids are not the way of the future, it's as simple as that... as soon as hydrogen fuel cells become smaller, safer, and more economical, they will dominate the market for the sheer amount of power you can get out of them coupled with the 0 harmful emissions...