May 7, 2009

Ford Announces All Electric Focus, enters EV market

ford_focus_ev In light of recent initiatives from government and public, for car makers to move more into green and economic, Ford announced that it will Invest more than $550 million to convert existing truck assembly factory in Michigan to new plant devoted to building new all electric car – Electric Ford Focus.

focus-ev-1280-03 While General Motors and Chrysler got bailout money from government, Ford declined the help and decided to do it on its own! Few days ago  Chrysler filed for bankruptcy and GM is nearing that point, it looks like Ford is progressing ahead and returning to profitability. Ford is doing that by restructuring its production lines to produce more fuel efficient vehicles. Part of Ford’s answer to efficient next generation product is a first electric car.

"We're changing from a company focused mainly on trucks and SUVs to a company with a balanced product lineup that includes even more high-quality, fuel-efficient small cars, hybrids and all-electric vehicles," explained  Ford's Mark Fields. "As customers move to more fuel-efficient vehicles, we'll be there with more of the products they really want."

New Ford will be all about fuel economy and the electrification of vehicles, and battery-electric Focus is a first step in this direction. Ford hinted that Focus will be equipped with an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack. Focus is a result of development collaboration with Magna International and will go into production and world wide sale in 2011.

Ford also has plans to market a battery-electric version of its upcoming Transit Connect commercial vehicle, a next generation hybrid, and a next generation plug-in hybrid by 2012

 

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