Does new crossover show Ford is serious about hybrids?

By Alisa Priddle, USA TODAY and the Detroit Free Press

The 2013 C-Max is a new nameplate Ford is launching into a hybrid market still dominated by Toyota, and with Hyundai, Kia and General Motors gaining traction.

Ford's first dedicated hybrid line enters the market fray as volatile gas prices remain high, and the government's aggressive fuel-economy regulations are encouraging automakers into more alternative powertrain vehicles.

The C-Max compact crossover is notable because it's a divergence from Ford's past practice of adding hybrid versions to existing models. The C-Max will also attempt to fill the gaping hole left by Ford's decision to not offer a hybrid version of the current Escape utility vehicle.

It has become a crowded market and Ford, judging by sales, is far behind.

The 2013 C-Max will be offered as a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid only -- there won't be a gasoline-powered version in North America of this five-passenger family vehicle.

"This is a historic launch for us: a new name, a hybrid-only line, our first multipurpose vehicle for North America and our first plug-in to market," said Amy Machesney, C-Max marketing manager.

The move follows Toyota's strategy with the Prius family of hybrid-only vehicles that have pushed Toyota to a 73% share of electrified vehicle sales in the U.S. The Prius range now includes the smaller Prius c and larger Prius v wagon that would compete most directly with the C-Max.

Toyota sold 143,297 Priuses through July compared with 10,666 Chevrolet Volts over the same period, according to Autodata.

All of Ford's existing hybrids combined only amounted to 10,666 sales, or 4% of all electrified vehicles sold this year through July, according to WardsAuto.com. Ford continues to lose ground against the competition.

Ford is not looking for huge sales volumes from the C-Max hybrid that hits showrooms this month and the C-Max Energi plug-in that follows in November:

The C-Max will be built in the Michigan Assembly plant in Wayne that also makes the Ford Focus and Focus electric, which removes the risk of a plant closing if traditional Prius customers and others fail to notice Ford's new offering.

And adding the new line of hybrids is in keeping with corporate roots steeped in green from the days of Henry Ford, who used soybeans in car parts.

Today, hybrids and electric vehicles account for only about 3% of total U.S. sales but that's expected to grow to meet new fuel-efficiency regulations that call for cars and trucks to get 54.5 mpg by 2025. Automakers will need electrified vehicles in their stable to reduce their corporate fuel-economy average.

And hybrid sales fluctuate with gas prices, which have crested $4 a gallon again in certain regions of the country with refineries now affected by Hurricane Isaac.

The C-Max "has the potential to make a statement," said analyst Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics in Birmingham, Mich. "It drives better than a Prius v," he said, and has aggressive pricing and styling that looks like a Ford but is distinctive enough to telegraph its uniqueness.

Ford didn't set out to launch the C-Max this way.

The original plan was to offer a seven-passenger version with three rows of seating and a regular gas engine that would have to compete with low-priced, high-profile vehicles such as the Dodge Caravan. There would be a second, smaller five-passenger version with two rows of seating that would only be offered as a hybrid and a plug-in hybrid in North America even though it would have a regular gas engine in Europe.

It was a confusing message, Ford officials realized, as they tried to explain it to dealers and planned the marketing campaign for consumers.

There was also some question as to whether there was a business case for the larger C-Max with sliding doors, said spokesman Mark Schirmer.

Ford announced in June 2011 the decision to drop the minivan-fighter and focus on the smaller C-Max as a hybrid only.

"The smartest thing was not doing a gas version," Hall said, allowing Ford to charge more for the hybrid and give showrooms an alternative to try to keep customers from going to Toyota.

At Bob Maxey Ford in Detroit, salesman Gabriel Peterson said he has already taken several orders for the C-Max and is fielding Internet inquiries from as far away as Key Largo, Fla., as well as local requests for information.

"People are asking when it goes on sale and about pricing and other comparisons with the Prius and Honda Insight," Peterson said. "People are talking about it. They know it is coming."