ROAD HOG; SIERRA CLUB OFFENSIVE SHIFTS INTO HIGH GEAR VS. NEW SUV.Byline: Brian S. Akre Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Ford Motor Co. is rolling out the industry's biggest sport-utility vehicle yet, a nine-seat colossus Colossus - (A huge and ancient statue on the Greek island of Rhodes). 1. v. guz·zled, guz·zling, guz·zles v.tr. 1. To drink greedily or habitually: guzzle beer. 2. enough gas to make Saddam Hussein smile.'' The 3-1/2-ton, six-door Ford Excursion - at 19 feet nearly a foot longer than the current biggest sport-utility, the Chevrolet/GMC Suburban - will go on sale in the fall as a 2000 model. The Excursion is so long and tall that it won't even fit in many garages, said Jim Hall, an analyst with AutoPacific Inc. It is expected to sell for $45,000 to $50,000, with a per-vehicle profit of between $12,000 and $20,000. That will make it one of the most profitable vehicles on the road. Months before its arrival in showrooms, environmentalists have aimed a series of stinging attacks at it as part of their campaign against sport-utility vehicles. With its beefy beefy, beefyness 1. in dog conformation, used to describe overdevelopment of musculature in the hindquarters. 2. in cattle, used to designate the desirable physical conformation of a beef animal, but an undesirable character in dairy cattle. V10 engine, the Excursion is expected to get only 12 miles per gallon Noun 1. miles per gallon - the distance traveled in a vehicle powered by one gallon of gasoline or diesel fuel unit, unit of measurement - any division of quantity accepted as a standard of measurement or exchange; "the dollar is the United States unit of . The Sierra Club has dubbed it a ``suburban assault vehicle.'' It ran a contest to give the big truck a name and advertising slogan. The winner: ``The Ford Valdez. Have you driven a tanker lately?'' The Excursion poses a dilemma for Ford. New Chairman William Clay Ford William Clay Ford may refer to
a person with an interest and knowledge about the interaction of humans and animals with the environment. ,'' has promised to make the world's No. 2 automaker the leader in developing clean vehicles. But Ford's financial success in recent years has resulted largely from meeting Americans' demand for powerful pickups and SUVs, which burn more fuel and tend to pollute more than cars. Ford has been uncommonly quiet about the Excursion. The vehicle is conspicuously absent from this year's auto show circuit. Ford executives generally have declined to talk about it. Ford plans a low-key unveiling today of the Excursion to reporters at its Dearborn, Mich., headquarters. ``It's basically a garbage truck that dumps into the sky,'' Dan Becker of the Sierra Club said Wednesday. ``For Ford to build a massive, gas-guzzling, polluting vehicle like this shows how big a job Bill Ford has to make Ford into a green company.'' Ford wouldn't comment on the criticism. The standard reply from Detroit executives is that they're simply building the kind of vehicles people want. And one of the biggest growth markets has been for big, expensive SUVs. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) The 3 -1/2-ton Ford Excursion |
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