[1931Chevy]

Day after Day I have more hope that by 2014 Ford might be the only American automaker alive, I hope that the Volt is a success and GM hangs on but with the Volt they have put almost all the eggs on the same basket and that worries me and after seen Ford plans they will have the best lineup by 2011

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.../BIZ/807130354

GM and Toyota Motor Corp., the biggest automakers, are racing to introduce a vehicle able to recharge from household electrical sockets in 2010. Ford has a test fleet of 20 plug-in sport utility vehicles, without a target date for selling them.

"It seems a good strategy because it's cheap, they don't have to take this risk," said Mike Omotoso, a powertrain analyst at market-research firm J.D. Power & Associates in Troy, Mich. "If Ford sees in a few years that the plug-ins are a commercial success, they can adopt the existing technology."

Ford's 2008 U.S. sales fell 11 percent through May, paced by a 19 percent drop in F-Series pickups as gasoline neared $4 a gallon. Sliding truck demand contributed to $15.3 billion in losses at Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford in the past two years.

Ford views the plug-in as a "Hail Mary" effort, said Miller, using a football metaphor for a desperation play. "The Hail Mary means that we're probably going to have to neglect a lot of other things," he said.

Operating a plug-in vehicle may be difficult for motorists in cities such as New York and San Francisco, Miller said. Manufacturers "assume you have access to a plug, and that's simply not the case in many cities where people park on the street or just don't have a garage," he said.