Ford straddles party lines, declares Escape Hybrid "The Candidate's Choice"
Ford has figured out a way to take advantage of the current crop of presidential candidates' green-pandering. As has been covered here at Autoblog, one of the measures some candidates take to burnish their eco-cred is swapping out their current daily drivers for more economical fare, and since no American Presidential candidate would be caught dead in anything other than an American car, Ford's Escape Hybrid is an obvious choice. The Ford advertisement shown at right (click for the full ad) takes advantage of this lucky fact for Ford. Not only is the SUV American-made, it's also a genuine hybrid vehicle, and as a bonus, it's got "green" seat fabric. You can almost taste the bipartisan tree-huggery. Of course, we all know that the vehicle-switching by candidates is essentially political theater, but in a Presidential campaign, what isn't? If you're in the market for one, look for a few lightly-used Escape Hybrids in the Beltway area after the primary season's over.You can read Ford's PR after the jump.
[Source: Ford]
PRESS RELEASE:
NEW AD HIGHLIGHTS FORD ESCAPE HYBRID AS VEHICLE OF CHOICE FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 26 – With the 2008 Presidential campaign in full swing, Ford is touting the fact that the Escape Hybrid is the "candidate's choice" for transportation, whether at home or on the campaign trail, in ads on Capitol Hill.
Reported by major news organizations – including the Associated Press, USA Today, and BusinessWeek – the Escape Hybrid, and the Mercury Mariner Hybrid, are playing a role in the transportation of the current crop of Presidential hopefuls and even in that of the leaders of the previous Presidential administration.
The Escape Hybrid is the first American-made hybrid to hit the market, and it remains the cleanest and most fuel-efficient SUV on the planet. Escape Hybrid and Mariner Hybrid are produced at Ford's Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Mo.
The Escape Hybrid "Candidate's Choice" ad features a headline reading "We May Not Know Where All of the Candidates Stand, But We Do Know Where a Lot of Them Sit." An image of a campaign button featuring an Escape Hybrid is the centerpiece of the ad. The new ads will appear beginning the week of September 24 in several Capitol Hill publications including CongressDaily AM, CQ Today, Roll Call, The Hill and Politico.
Escape Hybrid owners, no matter if they are Presidential candidates or not, receive multiple benefits from the hybrid electric SUV, including:
* Hybrid Technology – Ford Escape Hybrid is a "full" hybrid that maximizes fuel efficiency with the ability to run on electric or gasoline power alone, or a combination of the two to deliver up to 34 mpg in city driving and 30 mpg on the highway.
* Greener Living – Escape Hybrid makes it easy to drive "green" by emitting 76% less smog-forming emissions than the average new car. Escape Hybrid is PZEV-certified (Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle) in the states adopting California Emissions standards. Escape Hybrid also features fabric seating surfaces produced from 100 percent recycled post-industrial materials.
* No Compromise – Featuring a rugged new look for 2008, the Escape Hybrid not only offers low environmental impact and outstanding fuel economy, but has all the capability and roominess of a traditional SUV.
* Saving Green 101 – With considerable savings from fewer visits to the gas pump, the highest available federal tax credit for a hybrid (up to $3,000 for front-wheel drive and $2,200 for all-wheel drive models), various state tax credits and local incentives, and insurance discounts from major providers (Travelers Insurance offers up to a ten percent discount in certain states), Escape Hybrid is good for an owner's bank account.
About Escape Hybrid
The Ford Escape Hybrid is the cleanest and most fuel-efficient SUV in the world, combining the fuel economy and emissions benefits of a full hybrid with the go-anywhere capability, toughness and spaciousness of the Ford Escape – America's favorite small SUV.
The Escape Hybrid is a "full" hybrid, meaning it automatically switches between pure electric power, pure gasoline engine power or combined operation to maximize efficiency and performance. Its gasoline engine and electric motor work in concert, providing performance similar to that of a V-6 engine. In less demanding situations, the Escape Hybrid can run on its electric motor alone (at speeds up to 25 mph), its gasoline engine alone or the most efficient combination of the two.
Full hybrids achieve their greatest improvement in fuel economy during stop-and-go driving, when the electric motor is most efficient. In fact, the Escape Hybrid provides approximately 80 percent better fuel economy in city driving than the conventional V-6 Escape and can travel more than 500 miles in city driving on a single tank of gasoline.
It is an extremely clean vehicle to operate – an amazing 99.4 percent cleaner, on average than an unregulated vehicle. Escape Hybrid meets strict Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV II) and Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (AT-PZEV) standards.
The 2008 Escape and Escape Hybrid are believed to be the first U.S. automotive applications of 100 percent recycled fabric seating surfaces. The new fabric, supplied by Interface Fabrics, Inc. of Atlanta, Ga., is produced from 100 percent post-industrial material – defined as anything intended for retail use but never makes it to the consumer. This can be anything from plastic intended for soft drink bottles to un-dyed polyester fibers.
This plastic and polyester is processed, spun into yarn, dyed and woven into seat fabric. Recycling waste otherwise intended for landfills has obvious environmental benefits. Interface Fabrics estimates that Ford's use of post-industrial recycled materials, rather than virgin fibers, could conserve an estimated 600,000 gallons of water, 1.8 million pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents and more than 7 million kilowatt hours of electricity.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 260,000 employees and about 100 plants worldwide, the company's core and affiliated automotive brands include Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford's products, please visit www.fordvehicles.com.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ben Levy 1:20PM (9/26/2007)
Didn't Obama get an Escape hybrid after word got out that her owned a V8 300C? I don't know if there's a point though. How much time would a candidate really spend driving themself?
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Kowell 1:07PM (9/26/2007)
It's cheap, completly stupid, highly opportunistic and plays on patriotism (the easiest cord of them all) but Hey!... when you have the absolute exclusivity on a marketing concept like this... Why pass it up... :)
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Alex 1:14PM (9/26/2007)
agreed, good on Ford. Godspeed on your restructuring fellas.
Gina 1:22PM (9/26/2007)
Except Ford is quiet about the fact that the Escape's hybrid system is a Toyota hybrid (manufactured under license from Toyota).
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John P. 1:35PM (9/26/2007)
The Escape uses no parts from Toyota's hybrid system, they are completely developed in-house at Ford.
Ford and Toyota do share some patents on technology used in Fords and Toyotas.
The transmission from the Ford is supplied by a Japanese parts manufacturer, which ironically, is not used by Toyota in it's Hybrid.
Hope that clears things up for you there Gina.
iamhoff 1:24PM (9/26/2007)
Love the pandering. And you know that they're all itching to drive Priuses, so that everybody can just look and know they're being green, but can't drive a furrin' car when you're running for office in the US of A. At least they haven't given up on jet travel...they can still leave a carbon footprint with the best of 'em!
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Gina 1:27PM (9/26/2007)
In other words for every Escape hybrid sold some profit goes to Japan.
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compy386 1:29PM (9/26/2007)
This is funny. It's a PR stunt that takes advantage of another PR stunt.
Oh btw the Escape hybrid system is NOT the same as Toyotas. True Ford does license some of the technology from Toyota, but it's not the same thing as using it outright.
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Gina 1:35PM (9/26/2007)
Sure it is not exactly the same, but Toyota did not grant the license to use their technology for free. They charged Ford for the privilege of using their hybrid technology. And the profit went to Toyota.
Igor Holas 1:57PM (9/26/2007)
GINA ,
this was explained to you above - Toyota and Ford collaborated ... Ford did not use Toyota Technology ... they once met and talked about their challenges and found you that what Ford needs, Toyota has and what Toyota needs, Ford has - they shared the info under license agreement, but .. and this is a BIG BUT on both sides, they did not actually USE the actual technology shared .. the only shared information - found the solution for their problems, and developed their own technology.
Example of this can be seen in the Escape case - the piece Ford needed was the software control of switching between Electric and Engine power - Toyota let them see their code - and Ford went "d'oh" - however Ford went to write their own code (armed with the newly found solution to their issues) and their code actually turned out BETTER than the Toyota one - reviewers agree that the switching action in the Escape is quite smoother than in any Honda or Toyota Hybrids.
Oh and about profits going to Japan ... well thank US government for this .. Japan actively funded a lot of battery development, while US did not start until this year. Only last year did a US supplier release a battery suitable for Automotive application - Ford had not other option in 2003 but to buy components from Japan.
PS: this situation is biting everyone in the behind. Toyota bought out most of the suppliers of hybrid technology and is regulating their supplies - making sure all of THEIR demand is met first. As a result Ford has a waiting list on the Escape Hybrids, as the Japanese, Toyota owned, supplier refuses to ship them more batteries.
Ford will debut a new generation of their hybrid system this November in the Fusion Hybrid, and it will use a lot more US sourced parts, and it is supposed to eliminate all suppliers that have, in the meantime, got bought by Toyota.
Igor
Seminole 2:21PM (9/26/2007)
I guess all the money went into the Hybrid system so they had to give it drum brakes.
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Seminole 2:22PM (9/26/2007)
Though only the rear ones are drums. But seriously, why are they still being put on cars?
Kowell 2:37PM (9/26/2007)
Caus they can then save about 200$ on manufacturing costs and give you a 20$ rebate on the car's price.. :)
That One Person 4:52PM (9/26/2007)
Whats that? The Prius still uses drum brakes? Oh yeah, it's Toyota:)
Oh and BTW, the Escape Hybrid uses disc brakes all around :)
Seminole 5:01PM (9/26/2007)
That One Person,
Thank you, I just checked and I was wrong. I assumed that since the regular Escape and Regular Mariner had rear drums, so did the Hybrid. Sorry everyone.
SCY 2:48PM (9/26/2007)
No profits go to Japan for the sale of Escape hybrids any more than profits come here for the sale of a Prius, The technologies were developed separately and simultaneously by Ford and Toyota and they agreed to share rather than duke it out in court.
Just like the Bessemer-Kelly process for mass producing steel over a century ago, simultaneously discovered but neither side having a legitimate claim on the other...get your facts straight.
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Gina 3:00PM (9/26/2007)
On June 22, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. issued a news release headlined, Hybrid Hype? Fact and Fiction surrounding the new technology. Deep in the corporate Q&A is this nugget:
Is Ford using the Toyota hybrid system?
Answer: Although the Ford system is very similar to Toyota's, Toyota is not directly supplying any components to Ford. Toyota and Ford have entered into a licensing agreement allowing Ford to use technology that had been patented by Toyota.
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SPG 7:15PM (9/26/2007)
The Candidate is not going to be driving but their staff drives all over the place.
Get them a bunch of Hybrids and electric city cars for errands and things.
Word would spread and create a good image of the party.
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Bryan 11:42PM (9/26/2007)
Not a bad way to get the word out!
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Avinash machado 2:23AM (9/27/2007)
Perhaps those Hybrid Escapes could be auctioned on eBay. If Obama becomes the President his Escape could go for big bucks on eBay. It could be advertised as the car the President used. There might be a few who would be willing to bid huge sums to buy it.
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