Environmentalists criticize Ford fuel efficiency
Date: 05-Jun-03
Country: USA
The ads, scheduled to run in The New York Times and BusinessWeek, note that the Model T got 25 miles to the gallon nearly a century ago. The headline reads, "1903-2003 A Century of Innovation ... except at Ford."
Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford's average vehicle now gets 22.6 miles per gallon, with its popular Explorer sports utility vehicle getting 16 miles per gallon, according to the Sierra Club ad.
Ford, which will observe its 100th birthday on June 16, countered that it has three models that are best in class for fuel economy and another three that produce almost no emissions. The company also said its Ford Focus has almost half the tail-pipe emissions level of the Model T.
Meanwhile, former Sierra Club president Robert Cox said this week he is "running" for the Ford board of directors.
A communications studies professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he was head of the Sierra Club from 1994 to 1996 and from 2000 to 2001.
Cox plans to publicize Ford's environmental record by appearing on live radio talk shows and meeting with supporters across the United States over the next few months.
A Ford spokeswoman declined to comment on Cox's candidacy.
