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Ford Cites Progress in Sales of Alternative Fuel Vehicles, With Nine Percent Increase; Sees 'Important Role' for Future

12 September 1997

Ford Cites Progress in Sales of Alternative Fuel Vehicles, With Nine Percent Increase; Sees 'Important Role' for Future

    WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 -- Ford Motor Company says it has
started to make "real progress" in sales of alternative fuel vehicles -- cars
and trucks that use ethanol and other fuels instead of conventional gasoline.
    Ford, the nation's leader in sales of such cars and trucks, said its sales
for the 1997 model year rose nine percent over 1996.
    Starting with the 1998 model year -- now underway -- Chrysler Corp. and
other manufacturers may be challenging Ford's leadership, however.
    Earlier this year, Chrysler announced a major shift to ethanol-powered
production, with almost half of its new minivans to be equipped to run on E85,
a combination of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent unleaded gasoline, or any
combination of the two fuels.
    Ethanol is made primarily from corn and is increasingly used as
transportation fuel in various mixtures -- as E85, as a 1O percent blend with
conventional gasoline, or as ETBE, ethyl tertiary butyl ether, an ether form
of ethanol used as a clean-air gasoline additive.
    Both Chrysler and Ford have said they are increasing production of
alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) to push development of a new fueling
infrastructure intended to make E85 gasoline more available to motorists.
    Chrysler plans to make its E85 engine standard in its 1998 minivans, now
ready for sale.
    Ford will manufacture 250,000 new flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) over the
next four years, including production of an E85 Ford Ranger pickup truck for
model year 1999. (FFVs switch from one fuel to another.)
    Ford says it dominated the alternative fuel vehicle market once again in
the 1997 model year, selling more than 95 percent of all such vehicles in the
U.S.
    "Ford has shown by far the industry's greatest commitment to alternative
fuel vehicles, despite the enormous challenges involved in developing and
sustaining viable markets for these vehicles," Bob Rewey, group vice president
of Ford marketing, said.  "We continue to believe that AFVs can play an
important role in the future of the automotive industry."
    In the 1997 model year, Ford sold 10,285 AFVs fueled by ethanol, natural
gas, propane and methanol.

SOURCE  Fuels for the Future