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By JOHN PORRETTO, AP Auto Writer
NEW YORK - Ford Motor Co. chairman and chief executive Bill Ford Jr.
said the government should offer $3,000 tax breaks or possibly boost
taxes on gasoline to spur consumer interest in gas-electric hybrid vehicles.
Ford's comments Wednesday were a reaffirmation of views he has previously
expressed and come as his company is investing heavily in more fuel-efficient
vehicles.
He said incentives like tax breaks or rebates of, say, $3,000 per vehicle,
would be most effective.
He also mentioned his past support of an additional 50-cent-per-gallon
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 nation's second biggest automaker announced it
was increasing to three from two the number of hybrid vehicles it will
offer in the next few years, adding another 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 get 35 to 40 miles per gallon in city driving,
compared with 20 miles per gallon in a 2005 Escape with a V6 engine.
Hybrids draw power from two different energy sources, typically a gas
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. (news - web sites) and Toyota Motor Corp. (news - web sites),
but nearly every automaker is investing in hybrid technology.
In midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites),
Ford shares were off 30 cents to $13.70.
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