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96-764: The White Motor Company Model 706 chassis with a 94 hp (70 kW) 318 cu in (5.2 L) White 16A flathead inline 6-cylinder engine and body by Bender Body Company outperformed its competition during a group test at Yosemite National Park in California in 1935, leading to that model's selection by the National Park Service . The distinctive vehicles, with roll-back canvas convertible tops, were styled by noted industrial designer Alexis de Sakhnoffsky , with credit for mechanical design to F.W. Black (president of White Motor Co.) and Herman Bender (Bender Body Co.). The White 16A engine and chassis

192-611: A "vote of confidence" because of the pro-business climate being fostered in part by President-elect Donald Trump , Ford had canceled plans to invest $ 1.6 billion in a new plant in Mexico to manufacture the Ford Focus ; instead, the company would invest $ 700 million in Michigan , which it planned to use to create 700 new jobs. The Focus would now be manufactured in the existing plant in Mexico. Also in 2017, Ford began development of

288-503: A $ 2.7 billion profit in fiscal year 2009, the company's first full-year profit in four years. In 2012, Ford's corporate bonds were upgraded from junk to investment grade again, citing sustainable, lasting improvements. On October 29, 2012, Ford announced the sale of its climate control components business, its last remaining automotive components operation, to Detroit Thermal Systems LLC for an undisclosed price. On November 1, 2012, Ford announced that CEO Alan Mulally would stay with

384-685: A 32% stake in China's Jiangling Motors . The Henry Ford Company was Henry Ford's first attempt at a car manufacturing company and was established on November 3, 1901. This became the Cadillac Motor Company on August 22, 1902, after Ford left with the rights to his name. In 1903, the Ford Motor Company was launched in a converted factory, with $ 28,000, equivalent to $ 950,000 in 2023, in cash from twelve investors, most notably John and Horace Dodge , who later founded

480-556: A T-head four-cylinder in-line motorcycle engine in the 1920s. Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford ) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan , United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand, and luxury cars under its Lincoln brand. The company

576-413: A camshaft sited low in the cylinder block which operates the poppet valves via tappets and short pushrods (or sometimes with no pushrods at all). The flathead system obviates the need for further valvetrain components such as lengthy pushrods, rocker arms, overhead valves or overhead camshafts . The sidevalves are typically adjacent, sited on one side of the cylinder(s), though some flatheads employ

672-422: A complicated valvetrain allows a compact engine that is cheap to manufacture, since the cylinder head may be little more than a simple metal casting. These advantages explain why side valve engines were used for passenger cars for many years, while OHV designs came to be specified only for high-performance applications such as aircraft , luxury cars , sports cars , and some motorcycles . At top dead centre,

768-402: A decade the company led the world in the expansion and refinement of the assembly line concept, and Ford soon brought much of the part production in-house, via vertical integration . Henry Ford was 39 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company, which became one of the world's largest and most profitable companies. It has been in continuous family control for over 100 years, and is one of

864-905: A driver that killed two men while using BlueCruise. In November 2024, Ford announced that it would cut 800 jobs in the UK and 2,900 in Germany to try and reduce costs. The key trends for the Ford Motor Company are (as of the financial year ending December 31): Members of the Ford board as of March 2023 are: William Clay Ford Jr. (executive chairman), Jim Farley (president and CEO), Kimberly Casiano , Alexandra Ford English (daughter of William Clay Ford Jr.), Henry Ford III (son of Edsel Ford II ), William W. Helman IV, Jon Huntsman Jr. , William E. Kennard , John C. May, Beth E. Mooney , John L. Thornton , John Veihmeyer , Lynn Vojvodich Radakovich, and John S. Weinberg. Jim Farley succeeded Jim Hackett as

960-411: A front axle after the increased stresses had cracked the front frame members, and closer inspection revealed cracks in many buses, forcing the park's concessionaire to retire the fleet immediately. By that year, it was estimated that each bus had operated for at least 600,000 miles (970,000 km), assuming 100 miles (160 km) of operation each day for 60 years of 100-day seasons. The initial reaction

1056-479: A new mixed-use urban campus in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit , with its purchase, renovation, and occupation of The Factory at Michigan and Rosa Parks. The new site was expected to have a major focus on the development of autonomous vehicle and electric vehicle technology. Ford later began buying up other parcels of land in Corktown including a very high-profile purchase of Michigan Central Station which

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1152-443: A plan to return the company to profitability. Fields previewed the plan, named The Way Forward , at the board meeting of the company on December 7, 2005, and it was unveiled to the public on January 23, 2006. "The Way Forward" included resizing the company to match market realities, dropping some unprofitable and inefficient models, consolidating production lines, closing 14 factories and cutting 30,000 jobs. Ford moved to introduce

1248-508: A range of new vehicles, including " Crossover SUVs " built on unibody car platforms, rather than more body-on-frame chassis. In developing the hybrid electric powertrain technologies for the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, the company licensed similar Toyota hybrid technologies in order to avoid patent infringements. Ford announced that it would team up with electricity supply company Southern California Edison (SCE) to examine

1344-576: A replacement for the Red Jammers in 1956; the Type 2s, which were then in use at Banff National Park , were rejected for lacking air conditioning and having weak engines. One of Glacier's "missing" buses still survives to this day. The park keeps no. 78 stored in original condition at its headquarters in West Glacier. No. 100 was wrecked beyond repair during a fatal accident that occurred early in

1440-440: A result of high U.S. health care costs for an aging workforce , soaring gasoline prices, eroding market share, and an overdependence on declining SUV sales. Profit margins decreased on large vehicles due to increased "incentives" (in the form of rebates or low-interest financing) to offset declining demand. In the latter half of 2005, Chairman Bill Ford asked newly appointed Ford Americas Division President Mark Fields to develop

1536-491: A self-driving car startup. In May 2017, Ford announced cuts to its global workforce amid efforts to address the company's declining share price and to improve profits. The company is targeting $ 3 billion in cost reduction and a nearly 10% reduction in the salaried workforce in Asia and North America to enhance earnings in 2018. Jim Hackett was announced to replace Mark Fields as CEO of Ford Motor. Mr. Hackett most recently oversaw

1632-453: A sidevalve engine are poor gas flow, poor combustion chamber shape, and low compression ratio, all of which result in a low-revving engine with low power output and low efficiency. Because sidevalve engines do not burn the fuel efficiently, they suffer from high hydrocarbon emissions. Sidevalve engines can only be used for engines operating on the Otto principle . The combustion chamber shape

1728-462: A standard deep-dish steering wheel, optional front, and, for the first time in a car, rear seatbelts, and an optional padded dash. Ford introduced child-proof door locks into its products in 1957, and, in the same year, offered the first retractable hardtop on a mass-produced six-seater car. In late 1955, Ford established the Continental division as a separate luxury car division. This division

1824-491: A ten-year building project. The result would see the number of Ford employees working in these areas doubling, to 24,000. During construction, some 2000 of the employees were relocated out of the campus to a temporary location in a disused section of the local shopping mall. Facilities would also be altered to allow ride-sharing and electric and self-driving vehicles. Estimates of the construction cost were $ 1.2 billion. On January 3, 2017, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced that in

1920-413: Is 129 km/h (80 mph). BlueCruise uses sensors and cameras to regulate the car's speed and to keep track of speed limits and road signs. It also monitors and keeps a safe distance from other vehicles. It also comes equipped with an eye-tracking system. If the driver stops looking at the road then the car will gradually reduce its speed. This technology will initially be offered in Ford's 2023 model of

2016-607: Is a driver safety program aimed at teens that were developed together with the Governors Highway Safety Association and safety experts. The Ford Volunteer Corps allows Ford employees and retirees to sign up for volunteering work on local projects in more than 40 countries. The organization invests $ 18 million annually in education in the United States and around the world, but accepts applications only from nonprofit organizations registered in

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2112-474: Is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family . They have minority ownership but a plurality of the voting power. Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines . By 1914, these methods were known around

2208-632: Is not an option". Ford and the United Auto Workers , representing approximately 46,000 hourly workers in North America, agreed to a historic contract settlement in November 2007 giving the company a substantial break in terms of its ongoing retiree health care costs and other economic issues. The agreement included the establishment of a company-funded, independently run Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust to shift

2304-507: Is planned to become the hub of their Corktown campus, and the adjacent Roosevelt Warehouse . Ford expects to move 2,500 of its employees, roughly 5 percent of its southeast Michigan workforce, to the campus with space for an additional 2,500 entrepreneurs, technology companies and partners. Bill Ford envisioned the first-floor concourse of the train station to be a public gathering place with retail outlets and restaurants. In February 2017, Ford Motor Co. acquired majority ownership of Argo AI ,

2400-465: Is the second-largest U.S.-based automaker, behind General Motors , and the sixth-largest in the world , behind Toyota , Volkswagen Group , Hyundai Motor Group , Stellantis , and General Motors, based on 2022 vehicle production. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth-largest automaker in Europe. The company went public in 1956 but the Ford family, through special Class B shares , retain 40 percent of

2496-480: Is to be rebranded as Ford Pro, to focus on vehicle distribution and service. In August 2022, Ford announced it planned layoffs of roughly 3,000 employees and contract workers, confirming earlier reporting. The cuts would mostly affect divisions in the US, Canada, and India, which Jim Farley said would allow the company to prepare for the future of electric, software-heavy vehicles. In February 2023, Ford announced that it

2592-510: Is true for V-type flathead engines but less of an issue for inline engines which typically have the intake and exhaust ports on the same side of the engine block.) Although a sidevalve engine can safely operate at high speed, its volumetric efficiency swiftly deteriorates, so that high power outputs are not feasible at speed. High volumetric efficiency was less important for early cars because their engines rarely sustained extended high speeds, but designers seeking higher power outputs had to abandon

2688-431: Is unsuitable for Diesel engines , which require a high compression ratio for ignition to occur. In a sidevalve engine, intake and exhaust gases follow a circuitous route, with low volumetric efficiency, or "poor breathing", not least because the exhaust gases interfere with the incoming charge. Because the exhaust follows a lengthy path to leave the engine, there is a tendency for the engine to overheat . (Note: this

2784-692: The Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company . The first president was not Ford, but local banker John S. Gray , who was chosen in order to assuage investors' fears that Ford would leave the new company the way he had left its predecessor. During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at its factory on Mack Avenue and later at its factory on Piquette Avenue in Detroit , Michigan . Groups of two or three men worked on each car, assembling it from parts made mostly by supplier companies contracting for Ford. Within

2880-537: The Ford Foundation ), based in Dearborn, Michigan, is the philanthropic arm of the Ford Motor Company. Established in 1949 by Henry Ford II , the organization is a nonprofit corporate foundation financed by contributions from Ford Motor Company. In 2017, it contributed $ 63 million to various causes with a focus on education, driving safely and community building. The Ford Driving Skills for Life program

2976-748: The Ford Transit and later the Ford Escort and the Ford Capri became common to both companies. In 1970, the Ford Taunus and the Ford Cortina came into production with a common base construction, both models being produced in left hand drive and right hand drive . Later on, the models became identical and the respective models right- and left-hand-drive exclusively. Rationalisation of model ranges meant that production of many models in

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3072-953: The Ford flathead V8 engine and the Ford Sidevalve engine . Cadillac produced V-16 flathead engines for their Series 90 luxury cars from 1938–1940. Packard produced flathead inline 8-cylinder engines until 1954. Also in the British Morris Eight , and Morris Minor series I. After WWII , flathead designs began to be superseded by OHV (overhead valve) designs. Flatheads were no longer common in cars , but they continued in more rudimentary vehicles such as off-road military Jeeps . In US custom car and hot rod circles, restored examples of early Ford flathead V8s are still seen. The simplicity, lightness, compactness and reliability might seem ideal for an aero-engine , but because of their low efficiency, early flathead engines were deemed unsuitable. Two notable exceptions were

3168-538: The Historic Flight Foundation satellite campus in Spokane, Washington since 2012 for special group tours of Felts Field and special occasion transportation. Restored ex-Yellowstone No. 427 is available for rent from American Movie Trucks, after having been auctioned in 2016. Two ex-Yellowstone White 706s were restored in the 1990s by Jack Damratoski; they were eventually sold to conduct tours in

3264-573: The Transit van continued at the company's Southampton facility until mid-2013, engines at Bridgend and Dagenham , and transmissions at Halewood . Development of European Ford is broadly split between Dunton in Essex (powertrain, Fiesta/Ka, and commercial vehicles) and Cologne (body, chassis, electrical, Focus, Mondeo) in Germany. Ford also produced the Thames range of commercial vehicles, although

3360-463: The engine block , instead of in the cylinder head , as in an overhead valve engine . Flatheads were widely used internationally by automobile manufacturers from the late 1890s until the mid-1960s but were replaced by more efficient overhead valve and overhead camshaft engines . They are currently experiencing a revival in low-revving aero-engines such as the D-Motor . The valve gear comprises

3456-837: The industrialization of that country and consequently the Soviet war effort during World War II . To that end, in 1944, Stalin wrote a letter to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stating that Henry Ford was "one of the world's greatest industrialists". During World War II, the United States Department of War picked Ford to mass-produce the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber at its Willow Run assembly plant. Ford Werke and Ford SAF , Ford's subsidiaries in Germany and France, respectively, produced military vehicles and other equipment for Nazi Germany 's war effort . Some of Ford's operations in Germany at

3552-664: The 1970s, manufactures the Transit Connect compact panel van as well as the "Jumbo" and long-wheelbase versions of the full-size Transit. This new production facility was set up near Kocaeli in 2002, and its opening marked the end of Transit assembly in Genk. Another joint venture plant near Setúbal in Portugal, set up in collaboration with Volkswagen , formerly assembled the Galaxy people-carrier as well as its sister ships,

3648-548: The 5.4L V8s fitted in 2000–02, and cosmetic details, including new wheels 19.5 inches (500 mm) in diameter and gauges, will more closely resemble the original equipment as delivered in the late 1930s. The modifications will be carried out by Legacy Classic Trucks, based in Driggs, Idaho . Approximately 500 White 706s were manufactured and operated in seven National Parks by 1939: Bryce Canyon , Glacier, Grand Canyon , Mount Rainier , Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion . In Glacier,

3744-828: The American Aeronca E-107 opposed twin aero engine of 1930 and the Continental A40 flat four of 1931, which became one of the most popular light aircraft engines of the 1930s. Two modern flatheads are the Belgian D-Motor flat-fours and flat-sixes . These are extremely oversquare and compact aero-engines with direct drive to a propeller. Flathead designs have been used on a number of early pre-war motorcycles, in particular US V-twins such as Harley-Davidson and Indian , some British singles, BMW flat twins and Russian copies thereof. The Cleveland Motorcycle Manufacturing Company produced

3840-544: The Detroit United Auto Workers union announced that after discussion with the leaders of General Motors , Ford, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , the carmakers would partially shut down factories on a "rotating" basis to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic . On March 24, representatives of Ford announced that production in the US, Canada, and Mexico would not resume on March 30 as originally planned, amid

3936-592: The Ford Fund announced its official name has changed to Ford Philanthropy. Ford has had manufacturing operations worldwide, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and South Africa. Ford also helped the Soviet Union to construct Russian automaker GAZ . In May 2010, Ford reported that its sales increased 23% for

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4032-743: The Mercury in 1939 as a higher-priced companion car to Ford. Henry Ford purchased the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922, in order to compete with such brands as Cadillac and Packard for the luxury segment of the automobile market. In 1929, Ford was contracted by the government of the Soviet Union to set up the Gorky Automobile Plant in Russia initially producing Ford Model A and AAs, thereby playing an important role in

4128-585: The Models A , B, C, F, K, N, R, and S. Hundreds or a few thousand of most of these were sold per year. In 1908, Ford introduced the mass-produced Model T , which totaled millions sold over nearly 20 years. In 1927, Ford replaced the T with the Model A , the first car with safety glass in the windshield. Ford launched the first low-priced car with a V8 engine in 1932. In an attempt to compete with General Motors' mid-priced Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick, Ford created

4224-592: The Mustang, due to declining demand and profitability. The Focus Active, a crossover SUV based on the newly unveiled fourth-generation Focus, was also intended to be marketed in the United States. Due to the vehicle being manufactured in China, Ford later announced that it would not release the Focus Active in the United States, due to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese exports . In March 2020,

4320-704: The Napa Valley region of California. Another ex-Yellowstone 706 (No. 386) was restored and sold to the Montage Hotel in Big Sky, Montana , where it will shuttle guests after its scheduled 2021 opening. A White 706 which operates in Anaconda , giving tourists a ride around the town, is one of the buses originally built for Yellowstone, repainted in Red Jammer livery, distinguished by the gateswing doors on

4416-711: The Red Jammers; the bodies were removed and placed on a Ford E-450 chassis with a 5.4L V8 gas engine. In addition, heaters were fitted (as delivered from White, there were no heaters and passengers were given lap blankets to stay warm) and the materials were upgraded. In at least one instance (for chassis no. 402), the original White inline-6 was replaced by a 300 in (4.9 L) Ford inline-6 ; other restorations (Nos. 363, 386, 427) have used original or contemporary White engines. Other private owners include an operator which restored two tour buses originally built for Yellowstone for tours of Gettysburg National Battlefield . Another ex-Yellowstone White 706 (No. 433) has been used by

4512-473: The U.S. Education programs and scholarships include Alan Mulally Engineering Scholarship, Ford Blue Oval Scholars Program, Ford College Community Challenge (Ford C3), Ford Driving Dreams Tour, Ford Fund/Detroit Free Press Journalism Scholarship, Ford Next Generation Learning (Ford NGL), Grants to Individuals Program, HBCU Community Challenge, Smithsonian Latino Center Young Ambassadors Program, and William Clay Ford Automotive Design Scholarship. On April 29, 2024,

4608-549: The UK switched to elsewhere in Europe, including Belgium and Spain as well as Germany. The Ford Sierra replaced the Taunus and Cortina in 1982, drawing criticism for its radical aerodynamic styling, which was soon given nicknames, the "Jellymould" and "The Salesman's Spaceship". In February 2002, Ford ended car production in the UK. It was the first time in 90 years that Ford cars had not been made in Britain, although production of

4704-603: The Yellowstone buses. Utah Parks acquired 21 of the 18-passenger White 706 buses between 1937 and 1939, which were replaced by larger Crown Supercoaches (A-590-11) starting in 1959. One ex-Mount Rainier White 706 is on display at the Longmire Historic District . Flathead engine A flathead engine , also known as a sidevalve engine or valve-in-block engine , is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within

4800-491: The burden of retiree health care from the company's books, thereby improving its balance sheet. This arrangement took effect on January 1, 2010. As a sign of its currently strong cash position, Ford contributed its entire current liability (estimated at US$ 5.5 billion as of December 31, 2009) to the VEBA in cash, and also pre-paid US$ 500 million of its future liabilities to the fund. The agreement also gave hourly workers

4896-492: The capacity of the buses was overstated and offered primitive protection from the elements, they displaced the stagecoach operation later that summer, and Hill signed an exclusive agreement with White Motor Company to provide buses to Glacier. The original 1914 buses were retrofitted with improved bodies, and new buses were ordered and delivered between 1925 and 1927 after the original buses had aged. The completion of Going-to-the-Sun Road in 1933 forced GPTC to order new buses, as

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4992-439: The challenge of driving Going-to-the-Sun road meant a steady demand for bus tours unlike the other parks, where the popularity of private automobiles led to the discontinuance of bus tours, and the other parks sold off their White 706 buses when continued maintenance became too costly in the 1960s. Yellowstone National Park , which originally purchased 98 White 706 buses and was that model's largest operator, currently has eight of

5088-625: The chief executive officer of the company in August 2020; he previously served as Ford's chief operating officer. Hackett stayed in the company as an advisor until the second quarter of 2021. Ford is mainly owned by institutional investors, who own around 60% of shares. The largest shareholders in December 2023 were: The Ford Philanthropy, formerly known as the Ford Motor Company Fund (also known as Ford Fund, not affiliated with

5184-401: The combustion chamber's shape to prevent knocking . "Pop-up" pistons are so called because, at top dead centre , they protrude above the top of the cylinder block. The advantages of a sidevalve engine include: simplicity, reliability, low part count, low cost, low weight, compactness, responsive low-speed power, low mechanical engine noise, and insensitivity to low-octane fuel. The absence of

5280-551: The combustion chamber, thus increasing torque, especially at low rpm. Better mixing of the fuel/air charge improves combustion and helps to prevent knocking. An advance in flathead technology resulted from experimentation in the 1920s by Sir Harry Ricardo , who improved their efficiency after studying the gas-flow characteristics of sidevalve engines. The difficulty in designing a high-compression-ratio flathead means that most tend to be spark-ignition designs, and flathead diesels are virtually unknown. The sidevalve arrangement

5376-477: The company until 2014. Ford also named Mark Fields, its president of operations in the Americas, as its new chief operating officer Mulally was paid a compensation of over $ 174 million in his previous seven years at Ford since 2006. The generous amount has been a sore point for some workers of the company. In April 2016, Ford announced a plan to modernize its Dearborn engineering and headquarters campuses through

5472-400: The company; at the beginning the vaccination program would be in southeast Michigan, Missouri and Ohio, but it was to be expanded later on to other locations. In March 2022, Ford announced that it would restructure the company into three separate divisions. Ford Model E is to focus on electric vehicles; Ford Blue is to focus on internal combustion vehicles; and the existing commercial division

5568-488: The cost for the pilot renovation to be shared between Ford and the park's concessionaire. The updated no. 98 debuted at Lake McDonald Lodge on June 21, 2001; a second prototype, no. 105, was rebuilt using a smaller Ford E350 chassis. The cost of restoring no. 98 was US$ 202,000 (equivalent to $ 357,000 in 2023), of which Ford paid $ 177,000; subsequent restoration costs were reduced to US$ 140,000 (equivalent to $ 248,000 in 2023) per bus. Glacier's entire operating fleet

5664-642: The cost of credit default swaps to insure the debt of Ford was 68 percent of the sum insured for five years, in addition to annual payments of 5 percent. That meant $ 6.8 million paid upfront to insure $ 10 million in debt, in addition to payments of $ 500,000 per year. In January 2009, Ford reported a $ 14.6 billion loss in the preceding year, a record for the company. The company retained sufficient liquidity to fund its operations. Through April 2009, Ford's strategy of debt-for-equity exchanges erased $ 9.9 billion in liabilities (28% of its total) in order to leverage its cash position. These actions yielded Ford

5760-455: The electric Mustang Mach-E SUV. According to Thatcham Research, an automotive research company, this model is not a self-driving car. It is classified as a level 2 or partial automation assistance system. This means that technology controls two or more driving aspects but still requires human driver control in cases of emergencies. The driver is still legally responsible for accidents. In August 2024 Pennsylvania State Police filed charges against

5856-403: The existing fleet could not traverse Logan Pass . GPTC chose the new White Model 706 along with several other parks; 35 White 706 buses were manufactured for Glacier and delivered between 1936 and 1939, at a cost of US$ 5,000 (equivalent to $ 110,000 in 2023) each. Glacier National Park still operated 33 of their original buses as of 2020. The Volkswagen Type 2 Microbus was considered as

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5952-478: The formation of Ford Smart Mobility, a unit responsible for experimenting with car-sharing programs, self-driving ventures and other programs aimed at helping Ford better compete with Uber , Alphabet Inc. and other tech giants looking to edge in on the auto industry. On April 25, 2018, Ford announced that it would discontinue passenger cars in the North American market in the next four years, except for

6048-436: The further coronavirus pandemic spread. In the first quarter of 2020, Ford's sales dropped by 15%, entailing the loss of $ 2 billion. With the change in the demand for the sport vehicles, on January 6, 2021, Ford reported a sales fall of 9.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 542,749 vehicles, compared to 601,862 in 2019. In April 2021, Ford said that it would provide COVID-19 vaccines for its employees, who were to obtain them at

6144-551: The future of plug-in hybrids in terms of how home and vehicle energy systems will work with the electrical grid. Under the multimillion-dollar, multi-year project, Ford is to convert a demonstration fleet of Ford Escape Hybrids into plug-in hybrids, and SCE is to evaluate how the vehicles might interact with the home and the utility's electrical grid. Some of the vehicles are to be evaluated "in typical customer settings", according to Ford. William Clay Ford Jr. , great-grandson of Henry Ford (and better known by his nickname "Bill"),

6240-434: The gains, the company finished the year with a $ 2.7 billion loss, largely attributed to finance restructuring at Volvo . On June 2, 2008, Ford sold its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors for $ 2.3 billion. During congressional hearings held in November 2008 at Washington D.C., Ford's Alan Mulally stated that "We at Ford are hopeful that we have enough liquidity. But we also must prepare ourselves for

6336-488: The industry. Mulally stated that "In addition to our plan, we are also here today to request support for the industry. In the near-term, Ford does not require access to a government bridge loan. However, we request a credit line of $ 9 billion as a critical backstop or safeguard against worsening conditions as we drive transformational change in our company". GM and Chrysler received government loans and financing through T.A.R.P. legislation funding provisions. On December 19,

6432-400: The job security they were seeking by having the company commit to substantial investments in most of its factories. The automaker reported the largest annual loss in company history in 2006 of $ 12.7 billion, and estimated that it would not return to profitability until 2009. However, Ford surprised Wall Street in the second quarter of 2007 by posting a $ 750 million profit. Despite

6528-585: The largest family-controlled companies in the world. The first gasoline-powered automobile was created in 1885 by the German inventor Karl Benz , with his Benz Patent-Motorwagen . More efficient production methods were needed to make automobiles affordable for middle class people. To which Ford contributed by, for instance, introducing the first moving assembly line in 1913 at the Ford factory in Highland Park . Between 1903 and 1908, Ford produced

6624-563: The less common "crossflow" "T-head" variant. In a T-head engine, the exhaust gases leave on the opposite side of the cylinder from the intake valve. The sidevalve engine's combustion chamber is not above the piston (as in an OHV (overhead valve) engine) but to the side, above the valves. The spark plug may be sited over the piston (as in an OHV engine) or above the valves; but aircraft designs with two plugs per cylinder may use either or both positions. "Pop-up pistons" may be used with compatible heads to increase compression ratio and improve

6720-541: The mid-to-late 1990s, Ford continued to sell large numbers of vehicles, in a booming American economy with a soaring stock market and low fuel prices. With the dawn of the new century, legacy health care costs , higher fuel prices, and a faltering economy led to falling market shares, declining sales, and diminished profit margins. Most of the corporate profits came from financing consumer automobile loans through Ford Motor Credit Company . By 2005, both Ford and GM 's corporate bonds had been downgraded to junk status as

6816-490: The month, and that 37% of its sales came from fleet sales. In June 2010, sales to individual customers at dealerships increased 13% while fleet sales rose by 32%. In the first seven months of 2010, fleet sales of Ford for the same period rose 35% to 386,000 units while retail sales increase 19%. Fleet sales account for 39 percent of Chrysler's sales and 31 percent for GM's. At first, Ford in Germany and Ford in Britain built different models from one another until 1965, when

6912-412: The morning of June 27, 1977. In 1989, the Red Jammers were retrofitted with automatic transmissions, power steering, power brakes, new fuel-injected engines, and new axles. The replacement of the original standard transmissions eliminated the trademark "jamming" sound. However, the well-intentioned modifications in 1989 added stresses to the frame; during the summer 1999 season, one of the Red Jammers lost

7008-518: The original White Model 706 buses available for tours and also keeps one in its original condition. Yellowstone's eight operating buses were repurchased from the Skagway Street Car Company in 2001. Skagway had acquired a small fleet of ex-Yellowstone buses from private collectors starting in 1987. The eight were restored in 2007 by TransGlobal. The restoration mirrored the earlier one performed in 2000–02 by Ford and TransGlobal for

7104-473: The past two years and will lose a similar amount in 2023 as the company looks to significantly invest in Electric Technology. The Ford Model E is expected to be profitable by 2026. In April 2023, United Kingdom ministers approved Ford's BlueCruise technology. Because of this assisted driving technology, Ford drivers can now legally take their hands off the wheel on certain roads. Its top speed

7200-434: The piston gets very close to the flat portion of the cylinder head above, and the resultant squish turbulence produces excellent fuel/air mixing. A feature of the sidevalve design (particularly beneficial for an aero-engine) is that if a valve should seize in its guide and remain partially open, the piston would not be damaged, and the engine would continue operating safely on its other cylinders. The main disadvantages of

7296-407: The prospect of further deteriorating economic conditions". He went on to state that "The collapse of one of our competitors would have a severe impact on Ford" and that Ford Motor Company supported both Chrysler and General Motors in their search for government bridge loans during the 2008–2010 automotive industry crisis . Together, the three companies presented action plans for the sustainability of

7392-561: The railroad depot at Cedar City, Utah to Zion , Grand Canyon (North rim), Bryce Canyon , and Cedar Breaks . The buses operated by Utah Parks had a unique dark green, silver, and black livery and lacked the distinctive teardrop-shaped rear fenders of the Glacier and Yellowstone White 706 buses. Like the Red Jammers of Glacier, the Utah Parks buses had five curbside doors, but the rearmost door and compartment were used for luggage, like

7488-502: The rear and the metal bars on the rearmost side windows of the bus's luggage compartment. Access to the rear compartment of the Red Jammers built for Glacier, which is equipped with a bench seat for passengers, is provided through a single streetside door; there is no corresponding rear opening. The Union Pacific Railroad subsidiary Utah Parks Company operated White 706 buses on the Grand Circle loop tour, ferrying passengers from

7584-549: The retirement of president and chief operations officer Jim Padilla in April 2006, Bill Ford assumed his roles as well. Five months later, in September, Ford named Alan Mulally as president and CEO, with Ford continuing as executive chairman. In December 2006, the company raised its borrowing capacity to about $ 25 billion, placing substantially all corporate assets as collateral. Chairman Bill Ford has stated that "bankruptcy

7680-559: The sidevalve. A compromise used by the Willys Jeep , Rover , Land Rover , and Rolls-Royce in the 1950s was the "F-head" (or "intake-over-exhaust" valving), which has one sidevalve and one overhead valve per cylinder. The flathead's elongated combustion chamber is prone to preignition (or "knocking") if compression ratio is increased, but improvements such as laser ignition or microwave enhanced ignition might help prevent knocking. Turbulence grooves may increase swirl inside

7776-487: The time were run using forced labor . The creation of a scientific laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan, in 1951, doing unfettered basic research, led to Ford's involvement in superconductivity research. In 1964, Ford Research Labs made a key breakthrough with the invention of a superconducting quantum interference device or SQUID . Ford offered the Lifeguard safety package from 1956 , which included such innovations as

7872-733: The use of this brand name was discontinued with the introduction of the Ford Transit in 1965. Elsewhere in continental Europe, Ford assembles the Mondeo, Galaxy , S-Max and Kuga in Valencia (Spain), Fiesta in Cologne (Germany), Focus in Saarlouis (Germany), Ecosport and Puma in Craiova (Romania). Ford also owns a joint-venture production plant in Turkey. Ford Otosan , established in

7968-424: The vehicle for passengers and one door on the left for the driver; there were four forward and one reverse speeds that required double-clutching to shift between them, with a top speed of approximately 45 mph (72 km/h). The mechanical brakes were prone to overheating and downhill speeds were controlled by engine braking , downshifting to third with a top speed of 22 mph (35 km/h). The White 706 also

8064-668: The voting rights. During the 2008–2010 automotive industry crisis , the company struggled financially but did not have to be rescued by the federal government, unlike the other two major US automakers. Ford Motors has since returned to profitability, and was the eleventh-ranked overall American-based company in the 2018 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2017 of $ 156.7 billion. In 2023, Ford produced 4.4 million automobiles, and employed about 177,000 employees worldwide. The company operates joint ventures in China ( Changan Ford ), Taiwan ( Ford Lio Ho ), Thailand ( AutoAlliance Thailand ), and Turkey ( Ford Otosan ). Ford owns

8160-436: The wider wheels, reduced in diameter from 21 to 16 inches (530 to 410 mm), and numerous detail improvements were made, including replacing the original plywood floors with aluminum, upgrading exterior lights, and fitting safety glass windows. In late 2018, another renovation was announced for the Red Jammer fleet. The engines installed in the earlier renovation will be replaced by hybrid-assisted 6.2L V8 engines , replacing

8256-707: The world as Fordism . Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover , acquired in 1989 and 2000, respectively, were sold to the Indian automaker Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010. In the third quarter of 2010, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed upscale cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938. Ford

8352-484: Was already being used for intercity and transit service; the canvas top had featured in the earlier White Model 614 buses, first built for Yellowstone since 1931. Some of the later buses built used the White Type 20 engine. Each of the Red Jammers built for Glacier accommodated seventeen passengers on four four-abreast bench seats (plus one in front, next to the driver), with five doors on the right-hand (curb) side of

8448-495: Was appointed executive chairman in 1998, and also became chief executive officer of the company in 2001, with the departure of Jacques Nasser , becoming the first member of the Ford family to head the company since the retirement of his uncle, Henry Ford II , in 1982. Ford sold motorsport engineering company Cosworth to Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven in 2004, the start of a decrease in Ford's motorsport involvement. Upon

8544-442: Was available as a fourteen-passenger model, as operated in Yellowstone, omitting the rearmost bench seat in favor of a luggage compartment, distinguishable by the deletion of the rearmost streetside door in favor of a pair of rear gatewing doors, and the presence of metal bars on the rear doors and rearmost side windows and backlight . The body and trim colors were unique to the park in which they operated. Transportation in Glacier

8640-476: Was especially common in the United States and used for motor vehicle engines, even for engines with high specific power output. Sidevalve designs are still common for many small single-cylinder or twin-cylinder engines, such as lawnmowers , rotavators , two-wheel tractors and other basic farm machinery . Multicylinder flathead engines were used for cars such as the Ford Model T and Ford Model A ,

8736-518: Was going to cut 3,800 jobs across Europe, with the job cuts mainly focusing on their German and British workforce. Ford will be cutting 2,300 jobs from Germany, 1,300 from the United Kingdom, and an additional 200 jobs in the rest of Europe, according to the head of Ford Germany, Martin Sander. The cuts will mainly be done to the company's engineers. Ford also announced during the year that their electric vehicle business had lost $ 3 billion before taxes over

8832-552: Was introduced on April 17, 1964, during the 1964 New York World's Fair , where Ford had a pavilion made by The Walt Disney Company . In 1965, Ford introduced the seat belt reminder light. With the 1980s, Ford introduced several highly successful vehicles around the world. During the 1980s, Ford began using the advertising slogan, "Have you driven a Ford, lately?" to introduce new customers to their brand and make their vehicles appear more modern. In 1990 and 1994, respectively, Ford also acquired Jaguar Cars and Aston Martin . During

8928-503: Was modified between 2000 and 2002 by Ford in conjunction with TransGlobal in Livonia, Michigan, to run on propane or gas to lessen environmental impact. Ford 5.4L V8s were fitted to the chassis. The bodies were removed from their original chassis and fitted to modern Ford E Series van chassis, which were stretched to match the original 176-inch (4,500 mm) wheelbase. The fenders were replaced with fiberglass replicas to accommodate

9024-487: Was originally established in 1913 using stagecoaches, but their reliability was poor due to the primitive roads and alpine weather; Walter White floated the idea of using his company's vehicles instead to Louis Hill, who had developed the park's master tourism plan in 1914, and Roe Emery 's Glacier Park Transportation Company started an evaluation period that summer with ten 11-passenger buses, five 7-passenger touring cars, and two trucks supplied by White Motor Company. Although

9120-511: Was responsible for the manufacture and sale of the famous Continental Mark II . At the same time, the Edsel division was created to design and market that car starting with the 1958 model year. Due to limited sales of the Continental and the Edsel disaster, Ford merged Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln into "M-E-L," which reverted to "Lincoln-Mercury" after Edsel's November 1959 demise. The Ford Mustang

9216-539: Was to make the retirement permanent, but a letter writing and phone campaign convinced the National Park Service to inspect the buses more thoroughly after the 1999 season. Bus no. 98 was driven 2,000 miles (3,200 km) to Michigan for inspection by Ford Motor Company in February 2000; Ford, which made a donation of $ 6.5 million to renovate the fleet, used no. 98 as a renovation prototype, with

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