Hybrid electric vehicles are still an important product line for automakers to offer competitive, highly fuel efficient vehicles to consumers. The challenge has been that they’re usually higher priced than high mileage cars. And there’s always the Toyota Prius to compete with. It looks like Ford Motor Co. will be able to do that, and is introducing its own lineup of hybrids. Ford says its long-awaited Ford C-Max Hybrid is now available with a base price of $25,995 — not including shipping charges, which the company has not yet disclosed – making it cost less than the Toyota Prius V wagon.
Ford also claims that the C-Max will have better fuel economy than the Prius V’s 42 mpg. The five-passenger hatchback C-Max, the company’s first dedicated hybrid line, is being launched as part of Ford’s “power of choice” strategy in which the company plans to improve the fuel economy across its lineup and increase its capacity to produce electric vehicles. And coming up is the long-anticipated C-Max Energi, a plug-in hybrid, coming to market later this year. This will add another plug-in electric vehicle to Ford’s lineup, joining in with the Focus Electric.
