Ford: Hybrid Trucks "A Publicity Stunt" (Except Ours)

I just read about an Automotive News interview (subscription required) with Doug Scott, marketing manager for the company's truck division, who was asked about the GM and Chrysler hybrid trucks. His response was to call the hybrid Silverados, Rams, Sierras and Tundras more of a "publicity stunt" than a viable product.

Sam at the Autoblog writes:

"To date, Ford has repeatedly told us they had no plans to build large hybrid trucks of their own. However, now that the company's new diesel V8 for the F-150 has been shelved, Ford may be rethinking things."

However, it turns out that Ford's suppliers may have plans of their own, says Sam.

"Interestingly on the same day the interview was published we learned of a series hybrid F-150 that will make its debut at the SEMA show in a little over a week. We checked with Ford spokesman Alan Hall about the hybrid F-150 and he told us that the truck was a project of PML Flightlink, the manufacturer of the wheel motors."

Here's a pic:

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autobloggreen.com/media/2008/10/pma_f_truck-285.jpg

While I definitely applaud PML Flightlink's initiative and innovative spirit, Scott may be right about the full-size hybrid truck being more a marketing gimmick than a viable, saleable product. And with the weak sales of trucks (hybrid or not) in a market hungry for small, fuel-efficient cars, one has to hope that all these automakers (Toyota included) are getting some extra mileage off the green PR to at least somewhat compensate for the terrible product strategy.