Plant in Russia initially producing Ford Model A and AAs thereby playing an impo

rtant role in the industrialisation of that country.[13]

The creation of a scientific laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan in 1951, doing unf
ettered basic research, led to Ford's unlikely involvement in superconductivity
research. In 1964, Ford Research Labs made a key breakthrough with the invention
of a superconducting quantum interference device or SQUID.[14]
Ford offered the Lifeguard safety package from 1956, which included such innovat
ions as a standard deep-dish steering wheel, optional front, and, for the first
time in a car, rear seatbelts, and an optional padded dash.[15] 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.vbvbvbvbThe For
d Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid are the gasoline-electric hybrid powe
red versions that launched in the U.S. in 2004 for the 2005 model year. Built in
Kansas City, Missouri, it was the first hybrid SUV to hit the market. The Ford
Escape Hybrid was the first American-built hybrid and the first hybrid vehicle f
rom an American automaker, joined by the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra Hybrids
during the same model year. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, th
e first generation Ford Escape Hybrid is 70% more efficient than the regular Esc
ape. The Mercury Mariner Hybrid is a rebadged version of the Escape Hybrid. It f
eatures revised front-end styling and a more luxurious interior.
of the voting power).[5][4]
Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale ma
nagement of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing s
equences typified by moving assembly lines; by 1914, these methods were known ar
ound the world as Fordism. Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover,
acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively, were sold to Tata Motors in March 2008.
Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010.[6] In 2011, Ford disco
ntinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed entry-level luxury cars i
n the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938.