Ford Motor Co (F.N) plans to introduce a new hybrid gasoline-electric car in late 2018 to compete against the best-selling Toyota Prius, two sources with knowledge of the company's plans told Reuters on Wednesday.
The compact car will be Ford's first "dedicated" hybrid - that is a vehicle designed to be marketed exclusively as a hybrid, rather than a variation of an existing gasoline model, such as the automaker's Fusion hybrid, the sources said. The as-yet-unnamed vehicle will be built just outside Detroit, .
The sources said Ford eventually could offer several different body styles of the new hybrid, as Toyota does with the Prius. There would be different versions of the car's gasoline-electric drivetrain, including a more expensive plug-in model that can be recharged from an electrical outlet.