BEFORE FORD PUBLICLY UNVEILED THE biggest sport-utility vehicle ever, the Sierra Club ran a contest for the best name and marketing slogan for it. Among the entries were “Fordasaurus, powerful enough to pass anything on the highway except a gas station” and “Ford Saddam, the truck that will put America between Iraq and a hard place.” But the winner was “Ford Valdez: Have you driven a tanker lately?”108 Ford, which decided to name the nine-passenger vehicle the Excursion, was not amused. Sales of sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) exploded in the 1990s, going up nearly sixfold, and the company saw itself as simply responding to consumer demand for ever larger models. Although most SUVs never leave the pavement, their drivers like knowing their vehicles can go anywhere and do anything.

They also like their SUVs to be big. Before the Hummer passed it, the Excursion was the largest passenger vehicle on the road, putting Ford well ahead of its rivals in the competition to build the biggest and baddest SUV. The Excursion weighs 8,500 pounds, equivalent to two midsize sedans or three Honda Civics. It is more than 6½ feet wide, nearly 7 feet high, and almost 19 feet long—too big to fit comfortably into some garages or into a single parking space.

Although the Excursion is expensive ($40,000 to $50,000 when loaded with options), it is, like other SUVs, profitable to build. Because Ford based the Excursion on the chassis of its Super Duty truck, the company was able to develop the.......

Discussion Questions 1. Are environmentalists right to be concerned about the environmental impact of SUVs? How do you explain the demand for ever larger passenger vehicles? Will higher gas prices change that?
2. In developing and producing the Excursion, was the Ford Motor Company sacrificing the environment to profits, or was it acting in a socially responsible way by making the Excursion relatively energy efficient for its vehicle class? If you had been on the board of directors, would you have voted for the project? Why or why not? Do Ford’s stockholders have a right to insist that it produce the most profitable vehicles it legally can, regardless of their environmental impact?
3. Assess William Clay Ford’s promise to make his company the “world’s most environmentally friendly automaker.” What are the environmental responsibilities of automakers?
4. Is Ford Motor Company simply responding to consumer demand for large vehicles, or is it helping to shape and encourage that demand?
5. Should there be tighter pollution restrictions on SUVs?
Should the government try to discourage the production and use of SUVs?
6. Is it moral or environmentally responsible to drive an SUV? What would Jesus drive?