EKOS Communications, Inc.

A friend pointed out last night that Ford doesn't appear to be making a big thing of the fact that it has not needed bail outs as GM or Chrysler have, and we wondered why this might be. From my perspective, the company is also not blowing its horn nearly enough about its green initiatives. The Escape Hybrid was the world's first hybrid mid-sized SUV, and Ford has also made huge investments into hydrogen fuel-cell and hydrogen internal combustion engines. Going forward, they are pursuing plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicles as well as clean diesels and biofuel vehicles in combination with greater fuel-efficiencies and emissions reductions.

Again, let me add my usual cavaet. I'm not saying that Ford is the perfect green automaker giant. But, I do think these progressive steps should be profiled and congratulated, while encouraging and supporting the company in taking even more bold steps going forward.

Returning to last night's conversation, I'm willing to bet that one of the reasons that Ford has not needed the financial bail-outs is because these green initiatives go a long way to reducing production costs, thereby keeping the business more profitable.