Washington, DC, 01/25/06 --

A brief announcement on this morning's NBC Channel
4 local Washington, DC newscast indicates that a Ford
Escape Hybrid capable of running E85 is being offici-
ally announced today at the Washington DC Auto Show.
Apparently, the Autos are holding their own symposium
on "Energy Challenges for the Auto Sector" today at the
Washington Convention Center. That event is being used
as a lobbying platform for the automobile industry to
promote their agenda on energy efficiency as well as
Detroit's current economic crisis.

A spokesperson from that event, Mike Jackson, Chair-
man and CEO of AutoNation, the largest car dealer in
the US, appeared a short while ago on CNBC (NBC's
financial news cable channel) and admitted, grudgingly,
that hybrids are catching on, but argued the same tired
industry viewpoint that hybrids don't make any economic
sense and that only Greenies are buying them, although
he phrased it a bit more delicately:

"Hybrids are being purchased by people with a high
sense of social responsibility. At the moment there is a
big premium for hybrids, and what they are looking for,
of course, is the latest technology, fuel efficiency and
super clean air."

"For hybrids, though, to go mass market, there's going
to have to be a dramatic reduction in the premium, or a
significant increase in the price of fuel or both . . . or
hybrids are going to top out around 500-600,000 units."
But that, he reminded, among a 17 million auto sales,
would still be "only a tiny piece of the market."

Asked by CNBC Reporter Liz Claman, "How long
before we are all driving hybrids? . . . Let's project 15
years out. Will just about everybody be driving some
sort of energy efficient car?"

"Oh I think everyone will be driving some sort of energy
efficient car," said Chairman Jackson, "but I do not think
that everyone will be driving a hybrid."

"I think there are other technologies out there that'll
sell in much bigger volumes than hybrids."

"What?" asked Claman.

"Your gonna see cylinder shutoff, about a 10% im-
provement in fuel efficiency) . . . new transmissions
going up to 8 speed, about 5-10% improvement, and
the big winner that's coming over the horizon I believe,
is diesel, which for a relatively modest engine premium,
you're gonna get a 30 percent improvement in fuel
efficiency."

"Hybrids will be part of the mix but will not be the
dominant powerplant," the chairman emphasized.

Asked it the federal tax credit would be a factor in
hybrid sales growth, he downplayed the effort as "a
seed credit to get everyone in the game, after which
it will have to be self sustaining." Among the various
manufacturers, he said, "Toyota will probably use its
credits up first."

Acknowledging Toyota as the lead innovator on hybrid
technology "at the moment," Chairman Jackson "I think
the one to watch is DaimlerChrysler. I think with the
new super clean diesel fuels coming in the future, they
will use their expertise to reintroduce diesels in a big
way in the US and I predict that within five years diesels
will be significantly outselling hybrids."


-- reported and transcribed by
Dave Goldstein
President, EVA/DC and
Program Development Associates
Gaithersburg, MD

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