I have been invited to a get together with some of the people on the
Ford Hybrid Team in about two weeks at the 9th LOHAS Conference
(www.lohas.com). LOHAS is committed to producing the most socially
conscious and environmentally sustainable business environment. Their
goal is to create a zero-waste production while maintaining a
conscious approach at all levels of the process.

I would like this thread to give to me some short, specific questions
about the Ford Escape Hybrid that I can either ask or give in hard
copy that can be answered later in detail.

There are no guarantees that I will get any answers but I love jousting with windwmills.

Thanks,
Mike

 

I think a good question would be concerning the path Ford will be taking with their hybrids. Toyota is obviously diving head-first with as many as they can produce. Honda is moving along, but not at quite the same pace. Others are slowly creeping in. Does Ford have plans to make the Escape the first of a long line of products?

As per your request, I'll be sending you about 100 business cards that you may take along to the conference.

 

The new (closer) intro time for the Mariner and the Fusion hybrids coming in the future should give you a warm fuzzy with the direction Ford is going. I think if demand for the FEH remains high, ford will expand to other model lines. (fingers crossed) Bill Ford has made quite a big commitment already...I don't think he wants to see that fail.

I really want to see Ford succeed in thier hybrid venture. Methinks they could sell a ton of "hybrid Explorers or hybrid F150s" if they introduced them.

Nate

 

I feel the biggest problem with FORD is their marketing. I cannot believe the number of people that still think I have to "plug in." I still see ads in all the magazines for all the gas guzzelers. They need to do a better job of promoting it from a financial aspect rather than just an environmental view.

 

I will start by saying that I'm not picking on Ford specifically; indeed, they are to be commended as the only domestic manufacturer currently building hybrids in the mass market channel (sorry, Dodge, but I don't count those 300 Ram hybrids as viable 'mass-market availability').

Right now, economies of scale wouldn't allow Ford to stop advertising F150s and Explorers in favor of FEH. Remember that the F150 is Ford's bread and butter. 250,000 copies minimum of that vehicle *must* be sold, year over year, in order for them to remain profitable. With the competition in the full-sized pickup marketplace, Ford would not be wise to just abandon the segment to their competition by not continuing to promote it. 20,000 (?) FEHs are not going to take the place of 250,000 F150s - unless they were priced to offset the difference, and that's not going to happen.

Now, the other poster mentioning hybrid F150s and Explorers ? Can't happen fast enough. I only *hope* FoMoCo has plans for these in the next design cycles (F150 is only about 2yrs old now, but I think the Explorer is due for a freshening soon). And I'd lose a lot of my animus toward SUVs if they got mileage comparable to cars. Less polluting, less dependent on petroleum... I wouldn't mind seeing SUVs with one person inside & no gear, if a substantial number of them were hybrids...

 

This may be a stupid question, but.....
I just read an article that Carroll Shelby (who worked with Ford on such vehicles as the Shelby GT350 and the new 2006 Mustang Shelby Cobra GT500) is in favor of hybrid vehicles. Anyway I think it would be cool if Shelby teamed up with Ford once again to work on a super charged Hybrid that offered the fuel efficiency and environmental benefits with a lot of power. We are a nation obsessed with Horse Power, and perhaps by lending Shelby's name to a Hybrid would help raise awareness and interest in Hybrid technology.

 

Add on to my previous post...
Seems Shelby would be up for it, quoted from the refrenced article "That's the reason I get so frustrated. It's my business. I'm building a Cobra now with 900 horsepower. You've got to do it to be competitive in the world as it is - profit-centered - but I'd much rather be building something that I know is much friendlier to the environment, has rules and regulations that we all have to go by, and competes with the other competitors in something that is much more friendly to the environment. I don't know . I'm frustrated about the whole thing, but at 80 years old, I know that I'm not going to change anything.

 

I don't think Ford will go the Power + Hybrid route. They are letting Toyota (read Lexus and Highlander) try this. Ford is taking the low long road to build a mass market, not a niche.

 

Silly question, but I wanta know -

Why no cover over the battery other than carpet? Seems like a really odd choice. I worry about denting the thing. All the other Hybrids and EVs I have seen have a hard cover over the battery to protect it from damage. I have already had to clean sand out from around my battery pack and it is a real pain.

Also thank them for not putting any good awful Hybrid decals all over the thing like they did with the Demos. I like my stealth Hybrid, nobody knows what it is until I CHOOSE to tell them.

Thanks

Chris

FYI I saw some early Ford Hybrids back in 2000 at a conferance if I can find the pictures I will post them to the site. The Gen one Prius was there too, but they kept the interior covered up and the hood down.

 

I returned early this morning from a dinner last night where my wife
and I were hosted by Ford Marketing at the LOHAS9 Conference. In
the next few days I will try to pass on some of the things I learned
of value after chatting for a couple of hours. I want to thank Ford
for their courtesy and being so giving of their valuable time.

I was excited to be able to sit in and examine a 2006 Black Ford
Escape AWD Hybrid with Moonroof and the Premium Package. This was a pre-production model brought out here from Kansas City.

I understand better Ford's deliberate and steady marketing strategy
for the future. The strategy reminds me quite a bit of that employed
for the first few years of the Mustang in 1964.

There are some other surprises that came out of our conversations.
The total number of Escape Hybrids that will have been produced from
August, 2004 through August, 2005 will be about 20,000. About 1/2
have already been built and sold (2005s) and the remainder (2006s)
will be built beginning May 7th.

BTW Jason - I did hand out as many of your cards as possible to the all the rich Hippies at the dinner.

More soon.

Mike