The Ford Motor Company was
founded in 1903 by Henry Ford, with investments from John and Horace
Dodge and ten other investors. Henry Ford was forty years old then and
this company went on to become one of the largest motor vehicle
companies of the world. The Model T automobile killed off all early
versions of hybrid vehicles and electric cars. The almost three times
cheaper automobile, based on a combustion engine, is what we all have
to thank for the current environmental problems and the greenhouse
effect the atmosphere is experiencing. Unfortunately for the world, the
cheap but very well functioning car inspired many car manufacturers
worldwide and combustion engines prevailed, not only establishing the
automotive industry, but also cementing the monopoly of the gasoline
and petroleum companies over our fates.
It is understandable that Ford Motor Company was very reluctant to
enter into the hybrid car market, which was fervently pushed by the
Toyota Motor Company since the nineties of the twentieth century.
Pressured by the environmentalists, by the shifting market focus, by
the diminishing sales and the research and development team, the board
of directors finally succumbed and in 2004 the first Ford hybrid
vehicle, the Ford Escape Hybrid, was offered for sale. Basically a Ford
Escape special utility vehicle, the Ford Escape Hybrid is a so called
"full hybrid" car, where the system can switch to either combustion
engine, electric system, or a combination of the two. The idea was to
shut up everybody and drop around four thousand vehicles and get it
over with. The enthusiasm of the customers made the head offices change
their policy, four times the initially planned vehicles got sold only
in the second half of the year two thousand and four. The popularity of
the Escape Hybrid prompted the use of the hybrid SUV as the preferred
model of the New York City taxicab, together with the Toyota Prius. The
associated companies with the Ford line followed suit and Mercury
Mariner Hybrid as well as the Mazda Tribute Hybrid were released in
2007. There is very little difference between the three models
manufactured by the same head company, but there is a current movement
towards converting the Ford Escape Hybrids into plug-in hybrid
vehicles, test phase is in progress. Ford is planning to introduce
midsize cars with hybrid car technology in the very near future, Ford
Fusion Hybrid and the Mercury Milan Hybrid are already in production,
other options are still within the research and development department.
It is to be expected that the biggest American car maker will not miss
being a part of the future.

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