Ford CEO: government help needed to encourage more fuel-efficient purchases

Wednesday, April 7th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ 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. and Toyota Motor Corp., but nearly every automaker is investing in hybrid technology.