Ford Waits as GM, Toyota Take Lead on Plug-In Hybrids

June 27 (Bloomberg) — Ford Motor Co., under pressure to trim its reliance on trucks, said it’s taking a measured approach on plug-in hybrid vehicles by letting rivals assume the risk of marketing the new technology.

“If customers aren’t buying them, we’re not making them,” Ted Miller, Ford’s senior manager of energy storage, said in an interview yesterday. “If there’s going to be a true plug-in hybrid market, we’re going to be there. It’s just that that’s a huge commitment to actually go to production.”

That tack may force the world’s third-largest automaker to play catch-up if plug-ins such as General Motors Corp.’s Chevrolet Volt concept can be built in high volume. The chief hurdle is a rechargeable battery for extended electric-only use.

Bloomberg