The Sierra Club, a US environmental group, on Tuesday said that it plans to publish advertisements criticising Ford for making vehicles that are less fuel-efficient now — on its 100th birthday — than when it began, Reuters reported.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The news agency said the ads, copied to journalists and scheduled to run in The New York Times and BusinessWeek magazine, note that the Model T returned 25 miles to the gallon nearly a century ago compared with a 22.6 miles per gallon average now. The popular Explorer sport utility vehicle returns 16 miles per gallon. [NB: a US gallon is about four-fifths of the UK’s Imperial gallon measure].
Ford, which will observe its 100th birthday from June 16, told Reuters that the projected fuel economy this year for cars alone is 28.4 miles per gallon.
According to Reuters, Ford also said it has three models that are best in class for fuel efficiency and another three that produce almost no emissions. In addition, Ford told the news agency it plans next year to introduce the market’s first hybrid SUV, which can switch between electric and petrol power.
Former Sierra Club president Robert Cox said on Tuesday he is running for the Ford board of directors, Reuters noted.
According to the news agency, Cox said in a statement that he plans to publicise Ford’s environmental record by appearing on live radio talk shows and meeting with supporters across the United States over the next few months.
