Automakers to show new hybrids at Washington Auto Show

Washington: Ford Motor Co. will unveil the 2009 version of the Ford Escape and the 2009 Mercury Mariner at the Washington Auto Show, which opens to the public from 23 to 27 January 2008.

Ford says its 2009 Escape gas-electric hybrid will show improvements in power and performance. The sport utility vehicle was one of several hybrid developments at the show. Both Ford and Toyota Motor Corp. are displaying prototype plug-in hybrids while General Motors Corp. is expected to announce that new orders from three metropolitan transit agencies would more than double its hybrid bus fleet.

Both the petrol and hybrid versions of the Escape and Mariner will have a new 2.5-liter engine that will increase power by 11 per cent to 170 bhp. The petrol versions will also offer an optional 230-bhp, 3.0-liter V6 engine with similar gains in fuel economy. The 2009 versions of both models will hit the markets this summer.

Ford has said that overall fuel efficiency of the petrol versions of the 2009 Escape and Mariner would increase by 1 mpg compared with the 2008 versions, which give a fuel efficiency of between 18 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway depending on the engine configuration.

The fuel consumption of the 2009 hybrid versions of the Escape and Mariner is not expected to change substantially, Ford said.

General Motors has said its fleet of nearly 1,000 GM-Allison hybrid-powered buses would more than double thanks to large orders by transit agencies in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis-St. Paul.