Cash flow generator

Ford Motor Co. said it has halted an effort to use a starter-generator system to make a more fuel-efficient version of its Explorer SUV. Ford engineers and suppliers familiar with the program, said the auto giant had decided that the benefits of integrated starter-generator technology were greater on smaller vehicles than the Explorer.

Ford announced earlier this year that it planned to use so-called mild-hybrid technology to enable the best-selling Explorer to travel greater distances on a gallon of gasoline, according to a recent report.

This technology uses an integrated starter-generator as part of a system that can shut off an engine at a traffic light and then provide a boost when the vehicle sets off again.

The report said a Ford spokesman declined to comment on whether Ford had cancelled the mild-hybrid Explorer project. A number of Ford programs are under review given the ouster of Ford's CEO.

Nonetheless, Ford said it is fully committed to meeting an earlier commitment to boost the fuel economy of its sport-utility vehicles by 25 percent by 2005. The move to cancel the plan is due in part to the auto maker's cash conservation efforts, as Ford deals with its worst cash-flow crisis since the early 1990s.

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