Ford plans major increase in hybrid engines by 2010

DEARBORN, Mich. — Gas-electric hybrid engines will be available in half the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury lineup by 2010, Ford Motor Co. Chairman and CEO Bill Ford said Wednesday.

Ford also said the nation’s second biggest automaker plans to produce more vehicles capable of running on fuel-efficient ethanol and will offset the emissions from hybrid production by investing in renewable energy efforts.

“We know that our customers are increasingly concerned about energy,” Bill Ford told employees in a speech on innovation and environmental leadership. “Our job is to help alleviate some of their concerns with viable options in their personal transportation.”

Ford said the automaker will be able to produce 250,000 hybrids in the next five years, 10 times the number it produces now. It currently has two hybrid sport utility vehicles on the market. Ford has around 30 nameplates in its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury divisions.

Several automakers have recently announced plans to ramp up hybrid production to combat high gas prices. Toyota Motor Corp., which dominates the U.S. hybrid market, has said it wants to sell 600,000 hybrids in the United States by early in the next decade. Hybrids now make up less than 1 percent of all vehicles sold.

Ford said the company also will be adding ethanol capability to four vehicles in 2006: the F-150 truck and Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car sedans. Right now, Ford Motor makes ethanol-capable versions of the Ford Explorer SUV and Ford Taurus sedan. All of those vehicles can run on ethanol, which is distilled from corn, or on traditional gasoline.

Ford said the automaker plans to produce 280,000 ethanol-capable vehicles in 2006. The company already has about 1 million ethanol-capable vehicles on the road, he said.

Ethanol is an additive blended with gasoline to reduce auto emissions. About 400 of the country’s 176,000 fueling stations sell ethanol, mostly in Minnesota, according to Jason Mark, vehicles director of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmentally oriented group.

Ford said the automaker plans to offset the carbon dioxide emissions it takes to produce one hybrid by investing in renewable energy projects such as wind farms. The amount Ford will donate will be in the range of $10 to $20 per vehicle produced. Ford said he may eventually expand the program to cover all the vehicles the company produces.

Ford Motor has been struggling with falling market share and profits as customers turn away from gas-guzzling SUVs, the company’s longtime cash cows.