Top two American Idol finalists will get Ford Escape hybrids
Ford is really going all-out to promote its hybrids. Latest case-in-point: the last two finalists in this season's popular FOX television series American Idol will receive a Ford Escape hybrid. The American Idol giveaway comes right after a heavily promoted fictional hybrid Ford mustang in NBC's Knight Rider TV movie. Last year, Ford aired a commercial for the Escape hybrid that included a father telling his daughter he didn't think he needed to talk about his hybrid. The corporate mind at Ford has apparently changed concerning this approach; the idea now is to clearly mention Ford hybrids to as many people as possible.
[Source: Ford]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
doug 9:56AM (2/24/2008)
Too bad supply is so tight, the public can't buy one. Go try. You'll either get laughed at, told to order an 09 and wait 6 months, or talked into buying regular 4 cylinder. You have a better chance of finding a unicorn in your shower tomorrow than walking onto a Ford lot and finding a Hybrid.
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Lascelles Linton 10:27AM (2/24/2008)
doug, They are probably having the same problems GM and Toyota are having: finding a good source for parts. A good business to get in right now is not making electric cars BUT making the PARTS for electric cars.
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eddy 10:31AM (2/24/2008)
Continental and Bosch mass-produce parts for hybrids and for electric cars. The problem can't be as big as Toyota and GM want us to believe.
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Throwback 11:06AM (2/24/2008)
It's not only about getting the parts, it's getting them at the right price. These are for profit companies.
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Lascelles Linton 11:43AM (2/24/2008)
Throwback, You are right, of course, but I like to look at it as a price/quality issue. GM says the Volt is $35,000 now because of "redundancies."
eddy, I am looking very closely at those companies and what they offer and plan follow up posts. I think a lot of the problems are literally company secrets and still in the lab. I doubt I will get an interview with GM or Toyota explaining exactly what's wrong with their electric cars with details on obscure details like outsourcing quality and pricing. They probably have privacy contract to consider for one.
Anyway, it should get better over time and soon, this won't be a problem. The market usually works.
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