vbvbvbvbvvbvbThe Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid are the gasoline-

electric hybrid powered 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 t
he market. The Ford Escape Hybrid was the first American-built hybrid and the fi
rst hybrid vehicle from an American automaker, joined by the Chevrolet SilveraPl
ant in Russia initially producing Ford Model A and AAs thereby playing an import
ant 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 the Lifeguard safety package from 1956, which included such innovations 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-p
roof door locks into its products in 1957, and, in the same year, offered the fi
rst retractable hardtop on a mass-produced six-seater car.The Ford Escape Hybrid
and Mercury Mariner Hybrid are the gasoline-electric hybrid powered versions th
at launched in the U.S. in 2004 for the 2005 model year. Built in Kansas City, M
issouri, it was the first hybrid SUV to hit the market. The Ford Escape Hybrid w
as the first American-built hybrid and the first hybrid vehicle from an American
automaker, joined by the Chevrolet Silvevbvbvrado/GMCvbvbvbv Sierra Hybrids dur
ing the same model year. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the f
irst generation Ford Escape Hybrid is 70% more efficient than the regular Escape
. The Mercury Mariner Hybrid is a rebadged version of the Escape Hybrid. It feat
ures revised front-end styling and a more luxuriovbvbvbvbus interior.
In an attempt to compete with General Motors' mid-priced Pontiac, Oldsmobile, an
d Buick, Ford created the Mercury in 1939 as a higher-priced companion car to Fo
rd. 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 automobil
e market.
In 1929, Ford was contracted by the government of jkljkljkljklthe Soviet Union t
o set up the Gorky Automobile Plant in Russia initially producing Ford Model A a
nd AAs thereby playing an important role in the industrialisation of that countr
y.[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 packagoffered the Lifeguard safety package fro
m 1956, which included such innovations as a standard deep-dish steering wheel,
optional front, and, for the first time in a car, rear seatbelts, and an optiona
l padded dash.[15] Ford introduced child-proof door locks into its products in 1
957, and, in the same year, offered the first retractable hardtop on a mass-prod
uced six-seater car.do/GMC Sierra Hybrids during the same model year. According
to the Environmental Protection Agency, the first generation Ford Escape Hybrid
is 70% more efficient than the regular Escape. The Mercury Mariner Hybrid is a r
ebadged version of the Escape Hybrid. It features revised front-end styling and
a more luxurious interior.
The first gasoline powered automobile had been created in 1885 by the German inv
entor Carl Benz (Benz Patent-Motorwagen). More efficient production methods were
needed to make automobiles affordable for the middle class, to which Ford contr
ibuted by, for instance, introducing the first moving assembly line in 1913 at t
he Ford factory in Highland Park.
Between 1903 and 1908, Ford produced the Models A, B, C, F, K, N, R, and S. Hund
reds or a few thousand of most of these were sold per year. In 1908, Ford introd
uced the mass-produced Model T, which would sell in the millions. In 1927, Ford
replaced the T with the Model A, the first car with safety glass in the windshie
ld.[12] Ford launched the first low-priced car with a V8 engine in 1932.