This would be an excellent time to begin selling Ford Focus hybrids. They already have the hybrid powertrain (Ford Escape). All they need to do is modify blueprints, and begin selling Focus hybrids.

And, Chevrolet needs to launch a Cobalt hybrid.

I agree here while at the same time I still find it curious that none of the 4 major players intrude on the other's turf...at least for now. Ford could easily drop it's hybrid system into the Focus or the Fusion/Milan ( planned soon I think ) but they havent done either. By gentlemen's agreement?

During this initial period of 'education' the 4 main players have not competed against each other. But .. what if ... Mr Watanabe's announcement in January is the coded green light signal that the 'education period' is complete and that all vehicle makers can now compete against each other directly? Let the best man win.

Ford is rumored to be developing the Ford Fusion Hybrid - they have at least one prototype on the road. Earlier it was rumored to be released for the 2008 MY but now that is pushed back to 2009.

They need to get it to market now.

The Milan hybrid is coming out in 09. You may be able to order one in June. I guess that's also the case for the Fusion, though my info is from a Mercury dealer. They would be in better shape if they had hybridized these cars first before the SUV Escape/Mariner. They would have a competitor to the Camry/Prius.The Camry hybrid, by the way, is also a terrific car. My Prius sales guy has one. Gets 40 mpg.

There is an article by Bill Vlasic in today's NYT
( http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/business/23ford.html )
describing the grave problems facing Ford now that fewer buyers are willing to buy trucks and SUVs. It's worth a read. One line in the article surprised me (copied below) where the term "high-mileage" is being used to describe high fuel efficiency. It strikes me as funny that high-mileage would be used --- to me this term means an older car that has a lot of miles on the engine. Then I got to thinking: what simple positive term could be used instead? "gas sipping", "high efficiency",... Perhaps there is a good turn-of-phrase out there that we can send to Bill Vlasic and suggest he use instead of "high-mileage".

“The traffic in the showroom got very challenging,” said Doug Erickson, a Ford dealer in Hastings, Minn. “And I’m afraid it’s going to get worse.”
What few customers he has are interested in high-mileage cars like the Focus, Mr. Erickson said. In terms of inventory of the Ford F-Series pickup, “if you’ve got one on the lot, you’ve probably got enough,” he said.