California really is the Golden State for the Blue Oval. For proof, look to the words of one J Mays, Ford’s vice president of global design, who told Inhabitat that hybrid sales are far better than the company expected out west. “Our hybrids are flying off the shelves in California,” he said, adding that the US hybrid market as a whole is “growing slowly but steadily.”
Ford’s newer plug-in hybrids – the C-Max and the Fusion Energi – are also exceeding company estimates, though Mays said a more comprehensive infrastructure will be needed for that particular sector to make substantial gains.
The numbers bear May’s statements out. Through May, Ford’s hybrid, plug-in electric and battery-electric sales were five times their 2012 levels, up to more than 38,000 units, making the US automaker the second-best advanced-powertrain vehicle maker, after Toyota.
California, which is easily the country’s largest green-car market, has also served Honda and Fiat well, as those companies are now running waiting lists for their Fit EV and 500e, respectively.
