Today, Ford announced that it plans to produce three times as many C-Max hybrids and plug-in hybrids than originally intended. The C-Max isn’t for sale yet, but it will be soon. It’s essentially an enlarged Focus, built at the same assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan. The 5-door people-mover will be available three ways: with a small-displacement inline-4 gasoline engine, as a standard Hybrid model and as an Energi plug-in hybrid. The Wayne plant already builds the Focus Electric, so building the C-Max hybrids there is logical. More interesting, Ford is bringing the job of building electric transaxles and batteries back to the U.S. The electric transaxles formerly were sourced from Japan, and the batteries came from a supplier in Mexico. Now they will be made locally in Michigan at Ford’s Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Sterling Heights and the Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti.
Specifications for these new cars aren’t finalized, and little is known about their final performance or fuel efficiency, but it’s expected that with their lithium-ion battery packs—and Ford’s experience with the successful Fusion Hybrid—the C-Max could rival Toyota’s new Prius v. They are slated to be 2013 production models.
Unfortunately, this news spells the demise of the previously planned 7-passenger C-Max. Currently that model is sold in Europe as the Grand C-Max, which features 3-row seating and sliding side doors. The similarity to Mazda’s Mazda5 is hard to miss. The need to build more electrified C-Maxes is cited as the primary reason that Ford is not selling the 7-passenger C-Max in the U.S. Things may change, but for now the Mazda5 will remain unique in the U.S. market.
Related posts:
- First Drive: Ford C-Max
- 2011 Geneva Auto Show Preview: Ford B-Max Concept
- Combined Seat and HVAC System
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