Ford Motor Company has weathered economic problems as well as significant changes in the auto market over the past three years. The automaker has conducted a full-court press in North America and Europe to show that it is committed to greener vehicles. This evolution is powered by the Ford EcoBoost engine and light hybrid technologies that will be introduced over the next three years. Ford is taking its C-MAX line of green vehicles to Europe with a massive investment in its Valencia, Spain production facility.
Ford’s Valencia factory will be the lone producer of Ford EcoBoost engines in Europe. This plant will also be the first to produce hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of its C-MAX platform. Ford will use its Valencia plant to produce a seven-seat C-MAX hybrid for American consumers starting in 2011. The goal for Ford is to sell C-MAX HEVs and PHEVs starting in 2013. To achieve this goal, Ford is working with government officials in Valencia to invest $410 million in producing C-MAX models in the next three years. The hybrid version of the C-MAX alone will cost $36 million to produce by 2013. Valencia and the Spanish government is chipping in grants and loans to develop enough hybrid vehicles to meet European Union emissions standards.
These investments fit into Ford’s goal to introduce five clean vehicle models in Europe by 2013. Ford will start this process with the battery-electric Ford Transit Connect set to hit European and American markets in 2011. The automaker will also use its popular Ford Focus design as inspiration for a battery-electric sedan to be sold in 2012. After the PHEV and HEV versions of the C-MAX hit streets, Ford will introduce another hybrid vehicle by late 2013.
Ford is investing in Valencia, Spain in order to reach markets throughout the world with its C-MAX technology. The company plans to sell at least ten derivations of the C-MAX platform to consumers in 120 markets around the world. Ford projects that plants worldwide will produce 2 million C-MAX vehicles starting in 2013. These annual production levels could lead to Ford B-MAX and C-MAX models gobbling up 50% of the new vehicle market by 2013. While these projections seem a bit lofty, Ford’s rapid turn toward hybrids and electric vehicles is heartening for the American auto industry.
