Ford: 100,000th Hybrid SUV Rolls Off Line at Kansas City Plant

 

Ford Motor Company celebrated the production of its 100,000th hybrid SUV on Tuesday and reinforced its commitment to ramping up production of hybrid vehicles this year, while workers at Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant celebrated the hybrid milestone. Ford launched the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner hybrids five years ago and the vehicles remain on the list of most fuel-efficient SUVs on the market.

The Ford Escape Hybrid SUV and Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV deliver 34 mpg city driving, 31 mpg highway. The newest entries to Ford’s hybrid lineup, the Fusion Hybrid and Milan Hybrid deliver 41 mpg city driving, 36 mpg highway.

“All of us at the plant feel tremendous pride as we celebrate this important milestone,” said Ken Ward, Kansas City plant manager. “We are as enthusiastic about building the 100,000th vehicle today as we were at the initial launch.”

The interior of the Escape Hybrid features earth-friendly cloth seat fabric made from post-industrial materials – polyester fibers that would have ended up in landfills. The cushions are made from a bio-based polyurethane foam derived from the oils of various plant seeds such as soybeans.