Ford overhauls plans for the U.S. C-Max to go with fewer seats, all hybrids

Ford has shifted gears on its plans for the C-Max wagon in the United States and will now sell only the five-seat version with hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains, beginning in 2012. Ford has canceled plans to sell the seven-seat version of the C-Max with a conventional gasoline engine in the States.

Ford will call the car the C-Max hybrid, and C-Max Energi will be the name of the plug-in version.

"We can change when market conditions (shift)," ford sales chief Jim Farley said. "Ford now offers a dedicated body style."

The hybrid versions of the C-Max will be built in the same southeast Michigan assembly plant as the redesigned Ford Focus. The vehicles share the same platform.

The move will give Ford production capacity to build more than 100,000 hybrid and electric vehicles in North America by 2013. Ford says it currently sells about 35,000 hybrid versions of the Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ sedans and the Ford Escape SUV a year.

As part of the plan, Ford is adding workers at a plant in Ypsilanti, Mich., to build lithium-ion battery packs for the C-Max hybrid and C-Max Energi models. A transmission plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., will build the Ford-designed transmission for the hybrid cars.

An electrified C-Max will also be offered in Europe, Ford confirmed.

By Dale Jewett