|
Additionally, an American-made SUV
would be nice, and since my father only buys Fords,
well, you get the point.
Unfortunately, the
Escape is not groundbreaking.
First, only 20,000 of
the hybrid SUVS are going to be made per year. Toyota,
on the other hand, will be making 100,000 Prius
hybrid cars, in addition to several other models,
including two hybrid SUVs.
Second, as the article
by Kathleen Kerwin states, "Indeed, any auto maker
that doesn't have hybrid
vehicles in the pipeline is seen as not just
environment-unfriendly but also as a technological
laggard." Yet,
Ford doesn't have hybrid car technology, instead, it is
leasing its hybrid technology from Toyota's Prius.
Ironically, the Economist article doesn't even mention
that point.
How can that be
groundbreaking?
Furthermore, Ford won't
be adding additional vehicles into the hybrid
car space for at least another 3 years. In that same
time, Toyota will have multiple trucks, SUVs, and sedans
in the hybrid space. Sales of Toyota hybrids alone could
reach over a 1/2 million before another Ford hybrid even
hits the market.
Then there is Honda,
which is set to release the Accord
Hybrid in December, it's third hybrid model.
The fact is Ford is
years behind in the hybrid market. Instead of hybrid
cars, Ford and the other Big 3 automakers, focused
on bigger SUVs and trucks.
While I congratulate
Ford on getting the Escape to market, I would have been
much more impressed had they developed their own hybrid
technology.
Still, if you are in
the market for a hybrid, and an SUV is a must-have,
check this car out.
Just remember the Toyota
Highlander hybrid and the Lexus
RX hybrid SUVs are just around the corner, and those
cars are groundbreaking.
And if you don't like
foreign cars, is the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV
American-made, even if it's most important feature is
leased from Japan?
>>
Blog on this subject.
|
