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Ford wants to double hybrid offerings by 2020

The Blue Oval is looking for folks on the other side of this Big Old Sphere to get on board with its hybrid offerings. Ford executive Raj Nair, speaking at the Detroit Auto Show this week, said the US automaker wants to double the number of hybrids models it offers by the end of the decade, Reuters reports. Details of what that actually means is anyone's guess, as it was unclear how many of those models would be in the US and how many would be overseas. That said, Nair did say that prospective customers in regions such as China and Europe would drive the expansion of offerings. Ford got off to a great start in the US last year on its hybrid sales, but then tailed off towards the end of 2013. Ford more than doubled its green-car sales in 2013 to almost 88,000 units. In that number were more than 37,000 Fusion Hybrids and more than 28,000 C-Max Hybrids sold domestically. The company also sold almost 7,500 Lincoln MKZ Hybrids. Ford's green-car totals for 2013 were up fivefold at the mid-year point, hinting that Ford's hybrid sales plateaued, at least temporarily, in recent months.

Inside the Ford GT's interior

Ford has crafted a simple yet high-tech interior for the GT supercar, which has been on display at auto shows around the world this year. The instrument panel has a two-tier design with a floating wing. There are soft-touch materials and carbon fiber, which also is used for the passenger cell. Still, the GT's interior has been shrouded in more mystery than the rest of the car. To cast some light on the GT's cabin, we caught up with Ford design vice president Moray Callum, who explained the ins and outs of the future icon's interior. Put simply, "there's not a lot of excess materials," Callum said. But what is there is pretty cool. In case you haven't heard, Ford plans to launch the GT in 2016. It will run a mid-mounted twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and make extensive use of carbon fiber for the body structure. Related Video:

IIHS crash tests second F-150 bodystyle

Sometimes, being the king comes with some extra scrutiny. At the urging of Automotive News, the Ford F-150 is the first truck to have multiple cab configurations crash tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. According to Automotive News, IIHS was preparing to release the crash-test report on the 2015 F-150 after the safety watchdog evaluated the popular, four-door SuperCrew body. However, the agency learned from AN that configuration contained steel bars welded around the front wheels for added protection. Those reinforcements aren't on the other cab variants, and IIHS is now going back to check a SuperCab without the strengthening to check its safety performance, as well. While the added bars might help the SuperCrew score better in the vital but difficult small-overlap front crash test, there's no guarantee that's their sole purpose. As the head of the IIHS crash lab Joe Nolan indicated to Automotive News, if Ford were just trying to beat the system the company could only put the reinforcement on the driver's side where the agency does the small-overlap test. Also, when the National Highway Travel Safety Administration checked the latest F-150, the Feds gave all three cab styles top, five-star overall ratings. Due to the additional testing, IIHS won't have the F-150's scores ready until July, according to Automotive News. Starting next year, the cab variants of other trucks will also starting being crash tested by the agency. Related Video: