Just bought a hybrid a couple of weeks ago. Should have waited till last weekend (Memorial day). Ford just sweetened it's 0% interest deal with another $1000 in cash back. Same dealer I bought from added insult to injury by giving the FEH away at near invoice prices on top of the Ford incentives.

Why is Ford having to give away the FEH? At the same time H2 sales are at an all-time high! The old quality concern should not be a deterrent - the FEH is the best-designed mass-produced Ford IMHO. Certainly the way the eCVT integrates the traction motor, gas motor and generator is a technological marvel. I drove up and down mountain roads for 100 miles and the FEH's eCVT did exactly what a professional driver would have done. It even started the gas motor and used it for engine braking when the batteries were charged! It was eerie taking my foot off the throttle and watched as the engine RPMs INCREASE ! No need to use the brakes, the eCVT changed the gear ratios as more engine braking was required! About the only complaint I have is that Ford didn't use the 8500 mAh D-cells instead of the 6000 mAh ones in the FEH battery pack. This car needs a bigger battery (or a wider battery charge operating range).

I averaged 33 mpg going at the maximum speed limit all the way. Try that in your hybrid Highlander or your RX400h.

I guess the American public needs further incentives in the form of higher gas prices to have them ditch that Hummer for a more sensible alternative. I say : OPEC, bring it on!!

 

Things are always available better, faster and cheaper if you're willing to wait, but one could wait forever with that logic. This same logic that applies to new computers applies to new cars.

In '08 there will be all sorts of uncomfortable shifting in various FEH owners seats as the redesign becomes available. But in the meantime, those of us who have our FEH's are getting to enjoy them and I keep my cars for so long I might as well start enjoying them sooner than later. I was in the market for a new car now after 14 years of driving the same vehicle, so I couldn't imagine waiting when I found the car I loved and at a price I was willing to pay. (For the record, we bought our '06 FEH March 6, 2006 off the lot, at slightly above invoice and for 6.2% financing--not thru Ford Motor Credit.)

Ford's trying to bulk up sales of its hybrid because much of the rest of its product line is heavy on large pickups and SUVs that are perhaps not selling quite as well as company projections (though like you I've read that Hummer sales and the like are still shining despite gas prices; the target markets of those vehicles aren't really sensitive to gas prices, as is pretty obvious given the abysmal gas mileage.)

 

Welcome to GH!

I think the problem has been the one it's always been. No one knows it's out there, and don't know anything about it. I had no idea there was a FEH until I was in a dealer showroom looking at vehicles. While it's nice to see the Kermit Ford Commercial, it's a drop in a bucket, which, unfortunately, seems to be rather empty. Without potential FEH owners knowing it's there, they don't buy it, sales slow, and they resort to offering deals to get people to look at it.

In addition, consumers have been indoctrinated to not think of the hybrid function as a benefit, but as a hard to justify cost, or worse yet, an insurmountable excess fee. Though, once again, that's mostly the work of the media, who like to slam hybrids at every opportunity.

Those two factors make the FEH a slower selling vehicle, which is really a shame, considering what a great vehicle it is.