Ford on Monday began selling its second hybrid vehicle in the US, a more fuel efficient variant of its Mercury Mariner sport utility vehicle.

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According to the Associated Press, the 2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV, which starts at $US29,840, will be sold almost exclusively online – customers can order the vehicles through Mercury’s website and pick them up from a local dealer when they’re delivered.


Citing Ford, AP said the Mariner Hybrid’s fuel economy is nearly 50% higher than a conventional Mariner – it gets an estimated 33 miles per [US] gallon in the city and 29 mpg on the highway and meets the [country’s] most stringent emissions standards.


The Associated Press noted that the Mariner Hybrid is Ford’s second hybrid SUV – it introduced the Ford Escape Hybrid last autumn and sold 2,566 vehicles in 2004, or about 3% of the total hybrid market, according to RL Polk & Co. data. But Japanese brands accounted for more than 96% of the hybrid vehicles registered, the report added.


Ford reportedly said it had brought forward the release of the Mariner Hybrid because of the strong response to the Escape Hybrid, and plans to produce 2,000 Mariner Hybrids at its Kansas City, Missouri, plant for the 2006 model year. The company believes volume will eventually grow to 4,000 vehicles annually.

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“We are taking a very non-traditional approach to marketing the Mercury Mariner Hybrid because our target customers are very progressive,” Al Giombetti, president of Ford’s Lincoln Mercury division, told the Associated Press.


The news agency added that Ford plans extensive advertising on the websites of several environmental organisations, including the Sierra Club.