Gasohol E 20

The Future Energy Solution for Thailand

• Ford is a global leader in flexible fuel vehicles (FFV), with more than 1 million ethanol vehicles worldwide.
• Ford aims to become Thailand's leader in ethanol technology. Ford is fully committed to bring E20 technology to the Thai consumers today.
• Ford to partner with Bangchak Petroleum to promote ethanol technology and usage.
• Ford supports the Thai government's policy to promote gasohol consumption to reduce the country's dependence on crude oil imports.

Bangkok, Thailand, May 10, 2005

As a global leader in alternative fuel technology, Ford welcomes the Thai government's policy to promote increased gasohol consumption to reduce the country's dependence on crude oil imports.

"Ford fully endorses the government's new policy for gasohol," said John Felice, president of Ford Thailand. "While ALL of our Escape SUVs in Thailand today are fully compatible to gasohol E10, Ford has set our vision to become Thailand's foremost leader in ethanol technology. This means introducing Thai consumers to Ford's global range of available Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) capable of running on any mixture of gasohol, from regular benzene through gasohol E85 blend comprising 85% ethanol."

Over the past fourteen years, Ford has proudly put more than 1 million ethanol vehicles, from E20 to E85 compliant, on the roads in Brazil, North America and Sweden. Brazil represents a great success story, as the country's National Alcohol Program dates back to 1975, when the Brazilian government first introduced the policy as a measure to reduce its dependence on petrol imports and enable the country to produce renewable and environmentally friendly energy. From 1985 to 1990, around 90% of all automobiles manufactured in Brazil were powered by ethanol. To date, more than 6 million ethanol and flexible fuel vehicles have been manufactured in Brazil.

"With Ford's proven success in Brazil and around the globe, we certainly hope to transfer some of our ethanol expertise and technology to benefit Thailand. Ford has every ambition to put ethanol vehicles onto the congested roads of Bangkok and every other major city across the kingdom. Ford has the ethanol technology and the products to respond today, if the Thai consumers demand it!" said Felice.

The benefits of ethanol had been widely promoted by the Ministry of Energy, in an effort to educate and encourage Thai consumers to adopt gasohol consumption. Ethanol, produced from crops such as sugar cane or cassava will benefit Thailand's farmers and its agricultural sector. This leads to rural economic development. Ethanol technology contributes to reduced emissions and cleaner air quality. Ethanol as a renewable energy source also helps to reduce Thailand's dependence on fossil fuel and crude oil imports resulting in considerable national savings.

To demonstrate Ford's ethanol technology and capability, the company invited officials from various governmental agencies to an exclusive test drive of its E20 compliant vehicles. The drive event, held at the BIRA circuit in Rayong, brought together representatives from the Ministry of Energy's Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency, Department of Business Energy, as well as the Thai Automotive Institute (TAI).

Participants met with Ford's flexible fuel engineers from North America and Japan, and were given the privilege to test drove the E20-compliant Ford Escape SUV around the race track.

The verdict: the Escape E20 received confident thumbs up from all the participants! The test drive clearly demonstrated that E20 technology is a proven and reliable engine that offers seamless performance. The E20 compliant engine employs more sophisticated technology compared to E10 engine. The E20 compliant engine allows consumers to choose either benzene or ethanol up to 20% blend. The E20 engine is uniquely engineered so that it is able to sense change in the different levels of fuel mix and calibrate itself - quickly, automatically and flawlessly - to maintain optimum performance throughout.

E20 technology is ideal because it is a smart and practical solution to meet Thailand's present needs and environment - it is an affordable technology accessible to Thai consumers today. The Thai government's vision to promote ethanol consumption is highly laudable. For the ethanol initiative to succeed, all parties involved must cooperate and play their part. In this respect, the government has a critical role to push ethanol by providing the necessary incentives to vehicle manufacturers, fuel companies, farmers and consumers.

Bangchak's President Dr. Anusorn Sangnimnuan said, "It is a remarkable start that a car company is serious about introducing E20 engine vehicles in Thailand. The E20 technology is one of the concrete efforts that will realize the government's gasohol vision and we have to start now. Given that the government implemented the new vehicle tax structure, where E20 engine vehicles will be subject to only 20% excise compared to 30-50% in general for other types of vehicles, it is time to promote and encourage car makers to make available flexible fuel vehicles that support E20 fuel. This will provide benefits to all concerned parties. Bangchak has the fuel technology to produce E20, and supply them to consumers if there is demand. We have to join hands now and make sure there are E20 vehicles and the fuel available now and we will be ready to move towards the brighter future."

According to Felice, "Ford's partnership with Bangchak is mutually beneficial -- as Ford makes available our E20 vehicles to Thai consumers it will create a natural demand for gasohol E20 which will continue to grow. Ford is confident that ethanol is a keystone for Thailand's energy future. Ford aims to become Thailand's leader in ethanol technology, and we are fully committed to deliver E20 technology in our products to benefit the Thai consumers today."

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 198,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and, until its sale, Volvo.  The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.