This will help: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...175139,00.html

It looks like the credit increased from model year 2007 to 2008.

Purchasers of Ford Hybrids Still Qualify for Tax Credit

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced that purchasers of qualified Ford Motor Company vehicles may continue to claim the Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit. The announcement comes after the IRS concluded its quarterly review of the number of hybrid vehicles sold. Ford sold 5,196 qualifying vehicles to retail dealers during the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2007. This brings the cumulative number of qualified Ford hybrid vehicles sold to 38,743.
The credit amount and make and model of the certified vehicles sold are:

• Ford Escape 2WD Hybrid, Model Year 2008 $3,000
• Ford Escape 2WD, Model Years 2005, 2006 and 2007 $2,600
• Ford Escape 4WD Hybrid, Model Year 2008 $2,200
• Ford Escape 4WD, Model Years 2005, 2006 and 2007 $1,950
• Mercury Mariner 4WD Hybrid, Model Year 2008 $2,200
• Mercury Mariner 4WD, Model Years 2006 and 2007 $1,950
• Mercury Mariner 2WD Hybrid, Model Year 2008 $3,000

Purchasers of Ford’s qualified vehicles may continue to rely on the certifications concerning the vehicles’ qualification for the credit.
Original owners may claim the full amount of the allowable credit up to the end of the first calendar quarter after the quarter in which the manufacturer records its sale of the 60,000th vehicle. For the second and third calendar quarters after the quarter in which the 60,000th vehicle is sold, taxpayers may claim 50 percent of the credit. For the fourth and fifth calendar quarters, taxpayers may claim 25 percent of the credit. No credit is allowed after the fifth quarter.

 

It doesn't look like Fleet vehicle sales are being counted by the IRS, this is great news since many of the FEH (et al) sales are taxi and fleet at this point. I fully expect Ford (and family) to carry their 100% tax credit through all of 2008 unless they really ramp up production.

I say production because I think the sales potential are there if they put these vehicles on lots across the US.

 

Isn't the limitation currently the availability of the battery packs? I can't imagine the FEH ending up with surplus inventory, so the number sold will be pretty much how many batteries they can get.

 

I'd consider that a production issue. How many years have they been making these? Ford should know by now what their actual assembly potential is and have the battery pack supplier match (or exceed) that. The bottom line is there doesn't seem to be a shortage of buyers as seen by the 18+ week waiting period some have seen on new orders and that there are NONE on the lots in many areas.

When the the general public wants to buy a vehicle, they don't want to wait 12+ weeks or not being able to test drive. In both cases, not having units on hand (or even within 200+ miles) kills almost any potential sale and thus dealers/salespeople won't waste their time selling it. It's all compounds upon itself.

It may be the assembly line, battery packs or some other delay, in any case Ford isn't getting their product to the end user level to be sold. The FEH/MMH/MTH is an area where FORD has a better product than it's competitors (small SUV/CUV market) but isn't able to capitalize by putting drivers in seats and handing over the keys. The way I see it, if you have a product advantage, you need to do whatever you can to get that to your customers. You may not make much profit but you gain customer base and the spillover effects.

(I read that Ford recently announced that they were negotiating with the union for more overtime for the Escape assembly line. This leads me to believe that they either have a assembly backlog issue now, with enough batteries/parts, or they expect that assembly/battery/parts supply will increase soon.)

 

Problem with the tax credit is that Ford Dealers will sell the vehicle for more than they would if their was no tax credit. Look at how prices on Prius and Camry Hybrid's have come down after the tax credit was lost.

 

Does anyone have a link to the form I fill out with the IRS to file for my tax return?

 

I was searching the IRS website yesterday and it appears the 2007 form is not yet available. If you want to look at the 2006 form, it is Form 8910, Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8910.pdf

 

Also as a FYI:
"This just in from the nation's capital: Congress took even longer than usual fixing the alternative minimum tax (AMT) this year. As a result, the Infernal Revenue Service is going to need a bit more time to reprogram its computers to account for the changes in tax arcana"

http://www.fool.com/investing/genera...preparers.aspx

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...176605,00.html
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...176948,00.html

The printed form you receive from the IRS in the mail will not be correct (read above 2 links) due to when they were printed & when congress finished their work on AMT this year.