Ford has stepped forward to debunk a hoax email suggesting the motor firm was selling new models of a hybrid car at half price in response to the global financial crisis.

The bogus emails, ostensibly from a Ford sales manager in Michigan, claim 500 Ford Fusion Hybrid cars are on offer at the bargain price of $15,500, instead of the real "on the road" price of a 2010 model hybrid car of $27,270.

The email is sent in the name of Gary Settles. Someone, perhaps coincidentally, called Gary Settles works as a sales manager in a Ford dealership; but this sales outlet is in Lexington, Kentucky rather than Detroit.

The real Settles has no idea how his name came to be used in the hoax, AutoblogGreen reports.

Ford's denial of the dodgy email (extract from Sophos blog here) takes the opportunity to punt the benefits of its eco-friendlier motor. ®

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