Ford Reads NTodd Blogsite

Well maybe they don't, but it couldn't hurt. This post by NTodd is good. Its all here, but I provide a courtesy link.

In a sharp shift of strategy, Ford plans to focus less on hybrid technology and more on a wider range of alternatives to traditional gasoline-powered engines, Ford Chief Executive Bill Ford told employees of the automaker.

Ford (Charts) backed away from a commitment made last fall to build production capacity for 250,000 hybrid vehicles by the end of the decade, calling that goal "too narrow" in a company-wide e-mail message to the automaker's employees Wednesday. The No. 2 U.S. automaker released the e-mail to media Thursday.

Ford, which has faced criticism for lacking a consistent vision for its product development strategy, had heavily promoted its commitment to hybrid technology. Hybrids run on a combination of gasoline and electricity.

"Our strategy going forward is not to wed ourselves to a single technology," Ford said. "The strategy doesn't focus on one catch-all solution but offers a flexible array of options, including hybrids, clean diesels, bio-diesels, advanced engine technologies and E85 ethanol."

Good for Ford. Dedicating the company to a single technological approach is indeed too narrow, and embracing the overall revolution against oil-dependency is the key. Maybe Bill read my post on reinvention a few weeks ago?

Corporations often talk about "thinking outside the box" and this is what its all about. This used to be what Americans were good at. It might save US.

Note: That's a Ford Prodigy hybrid pictured.