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Ford has the Prius v in its crosshairs

Ford is taking the fight straight to Toyota with its new C-MAX Hybrid. While we first brought you news of the vehicle last year, Ford is now accepting per-orders for what it sees as the perfect competitor for the popular Prius v.
 
Ford announced that the C-MAX Hybrid will have a base price of $25,995 which is $500 lower than the Prius v. Ford also plays the "spec war" game by touting slightly greater maximum cargo capacity (99 cu. ft. vs. 97 cu. ft.) and roughly an inch greater headroom for both front and rear passengers.

Ford C-MAX Hybrid 

The C-MAX Hybrid is powered by a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine (Atkinson Cycle), which is paired with a CVT and Ford's hybrid powertrain (now with a lithium-ion battery pack).  We have the feeling that this is the same system that powers the second generation Ford Fusion Hybrid. While Ford isn't yet giving out EPA numbers for the C-MAX Hybrid, the 2013 Fusion Hybrid is good for 47/44 (city/highway).

 
“C-MAX Hybrid offers better fuel economy, performance, technology and functionality than Prius v – and C-MAX Hybrid customers will pay less at the dealership and at the pump,” said Ken Czubay, vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. “Ford is delivering the power of choice for leading fuel economy across its lineup – from EcoBoost to electrified vehicles – because customers increasingly want to save money at the pump, even as gas prices rise over time.”

 
Production of the C-MAX Hybrid is already underway, and potential customers can spec and price out one on Ford’s site. A plug-in variant, the C-MAX Energi, will be available later this year.

Source: Ford


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Zero failure to boot
By chmilz on 5/17/2012 1:20:19 PM , Rating: 2
If only long-time Toyota apologists would take the time to learn about better vehicles...

July 2011
quote:
“Ford’s battery technology is so strong, the odds of experiencing an issue with one of our hybrid battery cells is around 8.5 million to 1 – about the same odds as a person being struck by lightning twice,” said Chuck Gray, chief engineer, Global Core Engineering, Hybrid and Electric Vehicles

quote:
The electric motors are another great story,” Gray said. “With nearly 190,000 produced, we have zero motor failures.”


http://wot.motortrend.com/ford-touts-fusion-as-ame...




RE: Zero failure to boot
By tayb on 5/17/2012 1:44:21 PM , Rating: 2
Scion, Toyota, and Lexus are usually in the top 5 in dependability reports and Toyota backs the Prius battery with an 8 year/100,000 mile warranty. You'll usually find Ford in the 15-20 range. Toyota must be doing something right.


RE: Zero failure to boot
By chmilz on 5/17/2012 2:04:14 PM , Rating: 2
One of us posted articles and links with real information. The other one posted some anecdotal nonsense that absolutely confirmed my "Toyota apologist" theory.

Show me where Toyota, Scion, and Lexus have a zero-failure record for their hybrid electric engines like the Ford Fusion (and likely the engine in the relevant C-MAX) does. That is, unless, you can't.


RE: Zero failure to boot
By yomamafor1 on 5/17/2012 2:14:20 PM , Rating: 2
Ford started the production of Fusion Hybrid in 2009, while Toyota started the production of Prius Hybrid since 1997, and you want to compare the failure rate between them? LOL!


RE: Zero failure to boot
By Mint on 5/17/2012 2:58:00 PM , Rating: 5
"According to Ford, its hybrid taxi fleet has cumulatively traveled more than 800 million miles during livery service in California over the last 10 years, pointing out that the mileage is four times more than that traveled by Toyota’s Prius taxi fleet"

Any more excuses you want to make?

Ford has worked hard on quality. It will probably take a decade longer to develop the brand image that Toyota has (and rightfully so, as Toyota had to keep up high quality for several decades to earn today's reputation), but savvy buyers will realize that Ford is already top of the heap with quality.


RE: Zero failure to boot
By yomamafor1 on 5/17/2012 3:01:21 PM , Rating: 1
So you're saying, because Ford's hybrid TAXI fleet traveled further than Toyota's hybrid TAXI fleet, so you think Ford's OVERALL failure rate is comparable to Toyota's OVERALL failure rate.

Thanks for the good laugh.

I don't doubt Ford has made significant strive in improving their reliability, but to say it is more reliable than a Toyota is ignoring the fact. After all, Ford used to be called "Fix Or Repair Daily".


RE: Zero failure to boot
By DukeN on 5/17/12, Rating: -1
RE: Zero failure to boot
By Mint on 5/21/2012 3:56:19 PM , Rating: 3
WTF are you going on about? You claim that Ford's low hybrid failure rate is because they've been built since 2009. The quote shows that they've been around for 10 years, so you're dead wrong. The mileage shows that these aren't statistical anomalies.

The fact is that Ford's hybrid technology has rigorously proven itself. Of course, you have no interest in facts, so go ahead and keep telling your fairy tales to the suckers that pay attention to your worthless opinion...


RE: Zero failure to boot
By tayb on 5/17/2012 2:25:12 PM , Rating: 2
http://autos.jdpower.com/content/press-release-aut...

The "real information" you linked/quoted was a report conducted by Ford about Ford quality. The supposed third party even uses the term our when describing Ford's lack of battery problems. Even the odds are ridiculous. If there has never been a failure, where did that random ratio come from? Then battery cell is swapped for motor failures? Which is it? Ford has not had a single motor failure among that entire fleet of taxis or a battery has not failed?

Ford has had very high quality with their battery packs but that is not the only thing that can fail in a vehicle. Overall vehicle dependability indicates that Ford is still lagging behind Toyota, Scion, and Lexus.


RE: Zero failure to boot
By Mint on 5/17/2012 2:52:42 PM , Rating: 2
Do you have an aversion to reading?

"If there has never been a failure, where did that random ratio come from?" He said there hasn't been a failure with motors, not batteries.

Read the link he gave you, and you'll see that "Ford claims that only five issues among the nearly 43 million battery cells used in Ford taxicabs have been recorded"

If you're accusing Ford of fabricating the claims, well, there's nothing anyone can do to convince you otherwise. He was talking about hybrids, as this article is about hybrids, while your link is about overall brand quality.


RE: Zero failure to boot
By sigmatau on 5/17/2012 9:29:27 PM , Rating: 2
Oh gee, after 30+ years of getting their hurt rears handed to them they finaly can compete now! You want a cookie?

I give Ford props for improving, but you gotta admit they have been chasing Toyota for decades.


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