Ford and Volvo to invest $1.36 billion for new hybrid technology

With hybrids the alternative vehicle of choice for most consumers (yes, there are more flexible-fuel vehicles on the roads today, but how many people fill them with E85?), Ford and its Volvo subsidiary announced last week that they would invest over a billion dollars in a new center in Goteborg to develop new hybrid systems for their vehicles. This BusinessWeek article says the companies will use the new hybrid technology in all of Ford's brands in Europe and for Volvo models worldwide. Volvo will run the center will, but it that reason enough for excluding American Ford vehicles from benefiting from the gas-saving technology? If so, then it appears that Ford wants to continue losing gas-price conscious American customers to Honda and Toyota.
[Source: BusinessWeek and Mixed Power]