Ford Expands Natural Gas Vehicle Program Into Vancouver

22 June 1998
Ford Expands Natural Gas Vehicle Program Into Vancouver
    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 19 -- Ford Motor Company
is looking to Canada for new opportunities for natural gas vehicles
(NGVs).  Ford is adding Vancouver to its "Focus Market Development Program,"
now an eight-city program to expand the markets for NGVs.
    "Vancouver presents an excellent opportunity for Ford to increase our
alternative fuel leadership," said Beryl Stajich, Ford AFV and Fleet Brand
Team manager.  "Several police and taxi fleets that are now operating vehicles
converted to run on natural gas have expressed interest taking the next step
-- buying a new factory-built Crown Victoria NGV."
    Vancouver was added to the program because of its existing strong support
of natural gas vehicles.  There are 30 public 24-hour refueling stations in
the city, more than any other city in Canada, and nearly 200 older model taxis
that have been converted to run on natural gas.
    In addition to Vancouver, focus cities are Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los
Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Salt Lake City.  In each city, Ford is
concentrating marketing efforts on how natural gas vehicles can be best used
at airports and other locations as taxicabs and shuttle, delivery and service
vehicles.
    "We want customers to recognize that natural gas vehicles make good
business sense and can have a positive impact on the environment," said
Stajich.  Because of the low fuel cost compared to gasoline, NGVs are
economical to operate and maintain."
    The NGV Focus Market Development program is one part of an overall
strategy at Ford to increase demand -- and ultimately sales -- of natural gas
vehicles around the country.  "The program hopes to build on successful
efforts already underway," said Stajich.  "By focusing on one fuel at a time,
in this case natural gas, we can get greater support and involvement from
industry stakeholders."
    The cities chosen for the program were selected based on several factors
including available refueling infrastructure, an existing market for natural
gas vehicles, and strong government and utility interest.  Ford is partnering
with the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition and the Gas Research Institute on the
effort, as well as utilities and governments.
    "To date, the program has been a success," said Stajich.  "We have piloted
natural gas taxi programs in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York where we sold
100 taxis to one fleet in Queens.  Additionally, Ford began offering a regular
length Econoline passenger van last year to meet the needs of shuttle fleets."
    Besides natural gas, Ford also offers AFVs that run on propane, ethanol or
electricity.  Ford is the industry's leading producer of natural gas vehicles.
For the 1998 model year, Ford is offering six NGVs -- dedicated F-Series
pickup, Econoline vans and Crown Victoria sedans, and bi-fuel F-Series,
Econoline and Contour sedans.