Ford CEO says government help needed to boost fuel-efficient purchases

[willy_ph]

Article Linkage

NEW YORK (AP) - Ford Motor Co. chairman and chief executive Bill Ford Jr. says the government should offer $3,000 tax breaks or possibly boost taxes on gasoline to spur U.S. consumer interest in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles.

Ford's comments Wednesday were a reaffirmation of views he has previously expressed and come as his company invests heavily in more fuel-efficient vehicles. He said incentives like tax breaks or rebates of, say, $3,000 a vehicle, would be most effective.

He also mentioned his past support of an additional tax on gas, which he said would make fuel economy "a purchase motivation for the customer." But he said he wasn't prepared to say now how big a tax hike might be appropriate and acknowledged such a tax increase "doesn't have legs" in the political arena.

"I'd like to get either federal or state and local help ... and I think it's the responsible thing to do," he said. "If the federal government really wants to encourage this kind of behavior - and they should - then that's a way they can clearly help."

Ford's remarks came to automotive journalists at the New York International Auto Show even as the second-biggest North American automaker announced it was increasing to three from two the number of hybrid vehicles it will offer in the next few years, adding a sport utility vehicle.

Ford will build a Mercury Mariner hybrid SUV for the 2007 model year. The Mariner will join the Ford Escape SUV and a future midsize sedan in the automaker's hybrid program.

The Escape hybrid goes on sale this summer. Ford says its hybrid system allows the compact SUV to double the city driving mileage of a 2005 Escape with a V6 engine.

Hybrids draw power from two different energy sources, typically a gasoline or diesel engine combined with an electric motor. For now, the only versions available in the United States are small cars made by Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., but nearly every automaker is investing in hybrid technology.

Here's a clue, Bill: Stop making Excursions and Escapades. If you can't buy it, then you'll have to buy something more efficient, quaiff? Oh wait, that would kill YOUR bank account.

Basically what he wants is his company to still profit while the government takes a hit for it. Philanthropy? I think not.

[Epidemic]

Here's another clue. Ford stops making Excursions and Chevy keeps making Luxury SUV's and Ford loses cash trying to sell Geo Metro's.

Any change by one manufacturer would need to be downward directed by law (cost penalties...) or the most green of CEO's will get their head handed to them.

Geo metro's, Justy, and other economy boxes do not sell. It is not Fords fault IMO. It is the consumers deciding what they want. These are businesses out to make money. The consumer decides which product to buy. Unless you are saying that all manufactureres are colluding to not provide any choice. However that is obviously not true since the prism, metro, justy are on the market sitting on lots gathering dust. Ford, chevy, toyota, hyundai... all make efficient cars and would most certainly be happy to produce 10 times the volume of them to meet any demand increase.

[Theophylact]

Raising the gas price another dollar or two might make those hybrids look pretty attractive without tax credits.

Too bad the additional money'll go to finance terrorism.

[Epidemic]

Theo,

I am half in agreement with that. (certainly doubling gas prices would force people to more efficient vehicles) However I am doomed to the world of used cars in the 5 to 10 year old variety. As such I would pay a heavy price either in fuel or in new vehicle prices until hybrids made it to my level. I would probably not run out to get an econobox because 20,000 dollars buys a heck of alot of gass even for my gas hogs.

Lots of people living on the edge would suffer greatly under higher gas prices. I would much rather see gass guzzler tax put on vehicles than the euro model of raising gas to 5 bucks a gallon. It would affect the people purchasing new vehicles while allowing the used market to slowely be phased in as hybrids handed down to the poor. But if you would rather tax the poor I guess your method would be good.

Think about it how much gasoline does bill gates use as a percentage of free money in his budget. Now what is the percentage of the middle class and lower income persons fuel use as a percentage of free available cash after mortgage...

Again with the tax the poor scheme of a democrat.

Yup Bill gates hummer cost him an extra 1200 bucks a year to fill boy that sure stopped him. The soccer mom transporting 2 kids and their friends to soccer is paying 800 dollars more.

Makes the bush tax cut look like it only helped the poor.

[Theophylact]

The price will go up as long as OPEC wants it to, tax rise or no tax rise.

Generally speaking, the poor tend not to buy Hummers. Bill gates, on the other hand, can probably write off the entire cost of his Hummer in one year as a business expense.

You know, there currently exist tax exemptions on fuel for those who need it: taxis, farm equipment, and so on.

[John Prophet]

there is sort of a certain issue in America..maybe more of a mindset.

Plenty of people are rich beyond what they can even spend...the sort of Hummer, SUV for the kids at college type crowd...they could care less about gas prices...but all the demand for gas and oil that they use puts the crunch on the rest of us.


Lots of people want to use everything up and turn a deaf ear to tomorrow.....that works for a while..but not indefinitely.

I have a friend...her dad actually got killed (I dont know all the details) waiting in line for gas back in the oil "shortage" of 1973.


Dirty business


JP

Kein Mitlied Fur Die Merheit, eh Theo?

[MTAtech]

How about cutting the subsidies for oil companies? Not only would this encourage more efficient cars but help the gov't's balance sheet.
see: http://www.ctj.org/hid_ent/part-2/part2-8.htm

[Cyclone2]

?tahw eht kceh era ouy gniklat tuoba rihW