More on Ford's plans

NYT Story is here.

Mr. Ford, the chairman and chief executive of the Ford Motor Company, said yesterday that his company now planned to make three hybrid vehicles, two by the 2007 model year. He also said it would redouble efforts to build more efficient vehicles. This year, Ford, if it sticks to its current product plan, will become the third automaker to sell a hybrid vehicle, offering a version of its Escape sport utility vehicle.

Mr. Ford also reiterated Detroit's past support for substantially higher gas taxes - a notion recently pilloried on the campaign trail - as well as incentives for consumers buying vehicles like hybrids, which supplement internal combustion with electric power.

"The importance of fuel economy will only increase as we go forward," Mr. Ford said at a press preview of the New York International Auto Show, which opens to the public tomorrow at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. "The question is how high are they (fuel prices) going to get and will they (fuel prices) remain high."