Expedition to go green?
by Erin Mays on Jun 28th 2006 at 3:47PM 
Ford Motor Company is mulling ways to move some of its Expedition metal -- which is a good thing considering the 82-day supply the automaker is currently hoarding. The Dearborn-based automaker is taking its big Expedition SUV, which gets 14 mpg in the city, and making a diesel or hybrid version of it. The diesel would be a V8 slated for Europe, while the hybrid version would compete with GM's big hybrid SUVs, the GMC Yukon and Chevy Tahoe. It might not move the cars off the lot now, but it is some foresight sorely needed for the vehicle if it is to survive.
The diesel engine won't be a big deal. Ford may decide to beef up the 3.6L diesel V8 currently found in many a Land Rover over in Europe, but a hybrid won't be so easy. If Ford decides to do the development of the hybrid itself, the vehicle would definitely arrive a little late to the party (the Expedition will probably go on sale in 2010, whereas we'll see GM's trucks in 2008); however, the company may decide to go another route to bring the vehicle to market faster -- buy the two-mode hybrid technology from GM. The issue at hand is that Ford currently does not have rear-wheel drive truck platforms capable of hosting hybrid technology.
[Source: Automotive News via AutoWeek and Hybrid Car News]
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