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<H1><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=433320417-21092005>Great news following
our discussion of automobile production at Green Drinks last
night...</SPAN></FONT></H1>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=433320417-21092005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<H1>Ford poised for big hybrid push</H1>
<H3>Auto maker plans fuel-efficient versions of half its models, wants to
produce 250K by '10.</H3>
<P class=cnnStoryTime><STRONG>September 21, 2005; Posted: 12:19 p.m. EDT (1619
GMT) </STRONG></P><!--startclickprintexclude-->
<P><B>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.</B> </P><!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>Ford Chairman and CEO William Ford Jr. announced the plan Wednesday.</P><!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->
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<P>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.</P><!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>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 <A
href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/07/12/ford_hybrids/"><FONT
color=#000099>earlier</FONT></A> than originally planned.</P><!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>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.</P><!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>The U.S. auto manufacturers have trailed their Japanese counterparts in
development and sales of hybrid vehicles.</P><!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>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.</P><!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>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
<A
href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/09/20/bc.autos.summit.ford.hybrids.reut/index.html"><FONT
color=#000099>shortage</FONT></A>.</P><!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>"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."</P>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Jennifer Gooden</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Program Coordinator</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Homeless Alliance</FONT></DIV>
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