Ford backs off on 250,000 hybrid promise

Bill Ford announced that his company is backing off on a promise he made last September to produce 250,000 hybrid vehicles by 2010 in an email sent to company employees Wednesday. While many see the move as Ford reneging on his promise, the automaker is saying that it "intends to pursue a broader environmental strategy that focuses more on other alternative-fuel vehicles," according to The Detroit News, which obtained a copy of the email.
The email coincides with a letter sent to Congress penned by Ford and the CEOs of General Motors and DaimlerChrysler in which the trio promised to double their annual production of alternative-fuel vehicles to 2 million by 2010.

Ford stated in the email that the Blue Oval will focus more on other fuels like ethanol, clean-diesel and bio-diesel. In conjunction Ford is announcing a partnership with VeraSun Energy today to create an "ethanol corridor" with 50 new E85 pumps between Kansas City and Chicago.

The company still plans to go forward with its plans to produce a hybrid Mazda Tribute and hybrid version of the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan in 2008.

Check out the nicely written article on Ford's new strategy by Bryce G. Hoffman and Deb Price of The Detroit News here.

[Source: The Detroit News]