This lattest article say that Ford will build Hybrids in Turkey? anyone knew about this? I would think that stability in that region of the world is not that great and why would Ford build there? Am I missing something? is there a town named "Turkey" in the U.S.? Not fuelish BY JAMES A. MEROLLA / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF "Ford and Daimler-Chrysler are planning on rolling out hybrid versions of some of their SUVs over the next two years; Chevrolet is planning to produce hybrid versions of two full-size pickups, the Silverado and the Sierra, this year. Ford announced in April it will open a $650 million factory in Turkey, where up to 150,000 hybrid vehicles will be manufactured each year."
A quick check on MS streets and Trips yielded the following: Turkey . the country Turkey in the following states, NC, Texas, Ohio , and WV.
Ford (like GM and Chrysler) are huge multinational companies that build and sell cars all over the globe. They will build cars wherever it's more convenient to the company;all other considerations are secondary.
I don't know where the author got the idea of Ford hybrids being built inTurkey but I was able to dig up a couple of items from the net. Ford does have manufacturing plants in Turkey but according to this article the Escape will be made in Kansas: Escape to be Made in Kansas
I think Ford almost sells more cars in Europe now than they do here, so perhaps they see Europe/Asia as a bigger hybrid market than the US and plan to launch the rest of their hybrid automobiles from there.
Certainly cars are built by Ford in Turkey for Europe and the eastern countries, as do severl other companies.
If the Escape will be built in Turkey....I hope that it does not turn out to be a "turkey" or lemon...I would really hate to see hybrids get a bad rap if the Escape end up with reliability issues. Then again, if they had licensed some of the technology from Toyota, I would think that it will be ok. I am more than glad to see Ford is getting in the picture and wish them luck...but I never would have thought that they build cars in Turkey.
Hybrid license It is my understanding that Ford licensed the "classic" Toyota Hybrid System (THS) ONLY to prevent a copyright issue. I had read that Ford says that they developed their own hybrid system and corresponding program. Time will tell. I recently drove a rental Escape in California (almost stopped in to see Dianne when I saw the Carson Toyota sign from the 405) and it averaged 20 mpg. If their claim of 35-40 is not just inflated EPA, then this will be a good change in direction. Glad to be back home in Alaska
well the article states a $650 million dollar facility it gives me the impression that they are going to build a new place for the express purpose of building said vehicles. i would imagine that the $5 a day labor rates has a hand in all this.
It could be a coincidence but it's entirely possible that the author of the article was rushing simply got the facts mixed up. I did find a Ford press release from April of 2001 where Ford spent $650 million on a facility in Turkey: Ford News. On the other hand it might be good info and I just can't find any other corroborating articles.
