Ford plans on introducing a new hybrid gasoline-electric car sometime in 2018 in order to compete with the popular Toyota Prius.
The compact vehicle will be Ford's first "dedicated" hybrid vehicle, designed to be marketed just as a hybrid, instead of a variation of a current gasoline vehicle, like the Fusion hybrid, two sources said to Reuters this week.
The unnamed vehicle will be manufactured right outside Detroit. The new hybrid will be built at its Wayne assembly plant in southeastern Michigan, at an annual rate of approximately 120,000.
The sources added that Ford could eventually offer a number of different body styles of the hybrid, just like Toyota does with its Prius. There would be different versions of the vehicle's gasoline-electric drivetrain, like a more expensive plug-in vehicle that can be recharged from an electrical outlet.
Toyota will be debuting its fourth generation Prius vehicle sometime in 2015.
Some of the hybrid technology, like batteries, electric motors, and controllers, will be adapted from Ford's current hybrid vehicles. The 2019 vehicle is expected to provide better range and fuel economy than its current vehicles.
Ford has been investing heavily in hybrid technology in order to meant emissions and fuel economy standards in North America, Asia, and Europe, along with other automakers. Consumer demand for hybrids hasn't reached industry's sales projections yet however.
Sales of the General Motors' plug-in Chevrolet Volt have been just 10,635 vehicles through the first seven months of 2014. Despite heavy dealer discounts, sales are down 9 percent from 2013, according to Reuters.
Prius remains the top hybrid in global markets, though in the first seven months of 2014 sales are down 11 percent to 127,776. In 2013, worldwide Prius sales reached 400,000.
Toyota introduced the first Prius back in 2000.
Chevrolet also recently announced plans to debut a redesigned, second-gen Volt as a 2016 model, according to Reuters.
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