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...expect, plus improved fuel economy. Hybrid cars are propelled by a combination of a gas engine and an electric motor--a complicated technology that still draws blank stares, even though hybrids have been on the market for nearly five years. The latest versions, however, might be summed up by Ford's motto for its first hybrid SUV, an Escape, due in August: "No Compromise" (see review...
...Ford's rivals are sending similar signals. Chrysler is coming out with a diesel Jeep Liberty this summer, equipped with a four-cylinder 2.8-liter engine that the company claims will perform like a V6, with a 25% improvement in fuel economy (it will be sold in only 45 states because of antismog restrictions on diesel passenger vehicles). Lexus plans to deliver a hybrid version of its luxury RX330 SUV, the 400h, this fall. And Honda says by year's end it will sell a hybrid edition of its V6 Accord that will outperform the standard version in fuel economy...
...officials insist their strategy has not changed. The focus is still on delivering hybrid versions of SUVs and pickups while devoting the bulk of GM's future-power-train research into a commercially viable hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicle, which the company says is on track for 2010. (Ford was slow, too, having to license some technology from Toyota for its hybrid Escape...
...production too quickly. Hybrids are technologically complex and costly and require the retraining of service technicians. Toyota and Honda insist they make money from each sale, but those profits are meager compared with what they earn from conventional cars and light trucks, especially their luxury brands. The Big Three--Ford, GM and Chrysler--are even more reliant on SUVs and big pickups for profits, and if hybrids eat into sales of conventional models, the industry would be maiming a critical cash cow. So while auto executives talk of a greener future of hybrids and hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles, they continue...
...latest sales trends don't augur well for such vehicles. Sales of some full-size SUVs, such as the Ford Excursion and Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, fell during the first four months of the year, with a sharp drop in April, while sales of GM's mighty Hummer H2 tanked 25%. Smaller SUVs and crossover models are gaining momentum. "The mix is shifting down, and that's something we haven't seen in quite a while," Girsky says. GM plans to temporarily halt assembly lines at an SUV plant near Oklahoma City, Okla., this week--one of the few times...