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Mazda Will make a Hybrid SUV November 2004Mazda Motor, Japan's fourth-largest carmaker, said Tuesday that it was entering the market for fuel-efficient gasoline-electric vehicles, sharing technology with Ford Motor to catch up with its larger rival, Toyota Motor.Mazda, of which Ford owns a third, said it was planning to make a version of the Tribute sport utility vehicle powered by a gasoline engine and an electric motor, a hybrid version similar to the Ford Escape. The Mazda Tribute shares a chassis and engine platform with the Ford model. "Through our partnership with Ford, we are now proceeding with the development of a hybrid version of the Tribute," Mazda's president, Hisakazu Imaki, said at the Tokyo Motor Show. Imaki did not say when or where the hybrid Tribute would be sold. Like Ford, General Motors and Nissan Motor, Mazda is joining the rush to make hybrid vehicles as the cost of oil surges. Hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius can go more than 80 kilometers, or 50 miles, on a gallon of gasoline, about four liters. That distance is roughly double the average for passenger cars of similar size. Carmakers also hope to promote the use of hybrid vehicles as governments enforce environmental laws that are more stringent to cut down on air pollution. The Ford Escape, which has been on sale in the United States since September, can travel an average of 36 miles on a gallon of gasoline in city driving and 31 on the highway, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The vehicle is the most fuel-efficient 2005 light truck, U.S. regulators said last month. In April, Mazda recalled 106,000 Tributes made in 2001 and 2002 to prevent stalling, two days after Ford recalled 322,000 Escape vehicles made in the same period. Ford makes the Tribute for Mazda at a factory in Missouri. | ||
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