Wow, desperate times call for desperate measures. The main story on FOXnews.com today is
about how Ford Motor Co. CEO, Alan Mulally, says he’ll work for $1 per year if Ford takes any government loan money. The plan Ford is presenting to Congress this week also says it will cancel all management employees’ 2009 bonuses and will not pay any merit increases for its North American salaried employees next year. Mulally said in an interview Tuesday that Ford will emphasize its cost cutting efforts with the United Auto Workers union and will give much more detail to Congress than it did during a visit earlier this month. The company also will accelerate plans to roll out electric cars as part of the plan it will present to Congress this week.
Source: FOXNews.com
I also have the Ford Business Plan here, the one submitted to the Senate Banking Committee. I found the parts that involved their plans to implement hybrid and fully electric cars into their fleet and posted it below. Stuff I left out is mostly a bunch of puff about how they will build better quality cars, why they are in trouble, and how sorry they are. Their electric car plans remain quite vague and they insist they need a technological breakthrough in battery technology to implement them on a wide scale. They “cannot work alone.”
Ford Business Plan: Electrification Strategy Excerpt
Sustainability and Electrification Strategy
Ford’s sustainability plan will achieve continuous and substantial improvement in fuel economy and a corresponding reductionin CO2 through affordable technology in high volume. Ford’s plan is to make affordable fuel efficiency available to millions of consumers. They also plan to build smaller cars, and only touch on their commitment to continue ethanol and biofuels once.
Our three-phased approach with near-term, medium-term and long-term advanced technologies and products begins now with advanced internal combustion engine and transmission technologies, such as our EcoBoost engines going into production on several vehicles in 2009. The next major step in
Ford’s plan is to increase over time the volume of electrified vehicles, as battery costs improve
and as the transition from Hybrids to Plug-in Hybrids to Battery Electric Vehicles occurs.
Next month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, we will
discuss in detail Ford’s accelerated vehicle electrification plan, which includes bringing
to market by 2012 a family of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles. Our
work will include partnering with battery and powertrain systems suppliers to deliver a
full battery electric vehicle (BEV) in a van-type vehicle for commercial fleet use in 2010
and a BEV sedan in 2011. We will develop these vehicles in a manner that enables us
to reduce costs and ultimately makes battery electric powered vehicles more affordable
for consumers.
Our plan also includes building on our competence in hybrid vehicles, as
demonstrated by the industry-leading fuel economy of the Ford Escape and Ford Fusion
hybrids. We are now developing our next generation full hybrid technology, which
includes plug-in capability, for vehicles in 2012 and beyond. We are targeting a
substantial increase in hybrid volume through a greater than 30% reduction in cost,
installation of hybrid capability in global platforms and hybrid vehicles that are uniquely
styled.
Ford’s three-phased approach to sustainability provides immediate and significant improvements on a wide scale and accelerated electrification, including next generation hybrids and all-electric
vehicles.
We cannot, however, accomplish significant electrification by ourselves. The
2007 Energy Independence and Security Act requires American-developed breakthroughs in high-power energy batteries (e.g. lithium ion). In order to make significant progress in electrification, Ford supports establishing a U.S. public/private partnership to accelerate the development of this capability, including supporting infrastructure, within the United States.
Ford supports a public/private partnership to develop next generation battery technology
(Ford will) Continue to develop and deploy hybrids while reducing cost for expanded market applications. Ford was the first U.S. company to introduce a hybrid with the introduction of the Ford Escape Hybrid in 2004 and the Escape and Mariner Hybrids remain the fuel-economy leaders among all sport utilities. Full HEV nameplate offerings and volume will double in 2009 with introduction of Ford
Fusion and Mercury Milan Hybrids, which best the Toyota Camry hybrid by at least six mpg.
Achieve annual fuel savings of 2.5 billion gallons by 2012 model year and 3.1 billion gallons by 2015 model year from new fuel efficient vehicle.
