The Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid are the gasoline-electric hybr

id powered versions that launched in the U.S. in 2004 for the 2005 model year. B
uilt in Kansas City, Missouri, it was the first hybrid SUV to hit the market. Th
e Ford Escape Hybrid was the first American-built hybrid and the first hybrid ve
hicle from an American automaker, joined by the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra H
ybrids during the same model year. According to the Environmental Protection Age
ncy, the first generation Ford Escape Hybrid is 70% more efficient than the regu
lar Escape. The Mercury Mariner Hybrid is a rebadged version of the Escape Hybri
d. It features revised front-end styling and a more luxurious interior.
William Clay Ford Jr., great-grandson of Henry Ford (and better known by his nic
kname "Bill"), was appointed Executive Chairman in 1998, and also became Chief E
xecutive Officer of the company in 2001, with the departure of Jacques Nasser, b
ecoming the first member of the Ford family to head the company since the retire
ment of his uncle, Henry Ford II, in 1982. Ford sold motorsport engineering comp
any Cosworth to Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven in 2004, the start of a decr
ease in Ford's motorsport involvement. Upon the retirement of President and Chie
f Operation Officer Jim Padilla in April 2006, Bill Ford assumed his roles as we
ll. Five months later, in September, Ford named Alan Mulally as President and CE
O, with Ford continuing as Executive Chairman. In December 2006, the company rai
sed its borrowing capacity to about $25 billion, placing substantially all corpo
rate assets as collateral.[25] Chairman Bill Ford has stated that "bankruptcy is
not an option".[26] Ford and the United Auto Workers, representing approximatel
y 46,000 hourly workers in North America, agreed to a historic contract settleme
nt in November 2007 giving the company a substantial break in terms of its ongoi
ng retiree health care costs and other economic issues. The agreement included t
he establishment of a company-funded, independently run Voluntary Employee Benef
iciary Association (VEBA) trust to shift 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 approximately US$5.5 bil
lion as of December 31, 2009) to the VEBA in cash, and also pre-paid US$500 mill
ion of its future liabilities to the fund. The agreement also gives hourly worke
rs the job security they were seeking by having the company commit to substantia
l investments in most of its factories.