Thanks to the Prius, Toyota is usually seen as the king of hybrids, but Ford has its own gasoline/electric system, receiving favorable reaction from both critics and buyers in vehicles like the Fusion and Escape hybrids. The Ford setup seems to be generally smoother in the way it switches modes from battery to gas power and vice versa.
As equal partners, the two auto giants plan to make a rear-wheel-drive hybrid system, which they will then drop into pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. They stress that the joint project relates only to the source of locomotion; each company will have its own products developed separately.