Ford Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures and distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 300,000 employees and 108 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo. Its automotive-related services include Ford Motor Credit Company.

Our Businesses
A company of our size and scope can be viewed in different ways. Most of the millions of people we reach know us through one or more of our brands. Maybe they bought a Jaguar; maybe they got Genuine Parts & Service at a Ford dealership.

In addition to our brands, we operate distinct businesses, Automotive Operations and Ford Credit. Automotive Operations sells and services vehicles through well-known brands such as Ford and Jaguar, while Ford Credit is the world’s largest finance company dedicated to serving the automotive industry.

Inside the company, though, we're professionals who serve all the brands and businesses through our "functions" or hiring organizations.

Marketing, Sales & Service
Information Technology
Finance
Product Development
Manufacturing
Purchasing
Ford Land
Ford Credit
Technical Affairs
Global Business Development
Human Resources

Valuing Diversity
Diversity embodies all the differences that make us unique individuals. Not limited to physical aspects of race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, and sexual orientation, it includes culture, religion, education, experience, opinions, beliefs, language, nationality and more.

At Ford Motor Company we recognize that diversity is not only a reality of our global nature, it’s a distinct advantage, and one that we value and embrace. We also know that we can only leverage the benefits of diversity by understanding and respecting the differences among all employees.

Just as our customer base is infinitely diverse, so is our workforce.

Reflected in our products, diversity is a competitive advantage in a global economy. It broadens our range of talents and stimulates our creativity, adding to the appeal of our products especially in new and emerging markets. Our understanding of diversity helps us serve our customers better.

Diversity Proves Its Value
We find that well-managed, diverse work teams can outperform homogeneous teams in quantity, creativity and quality; that complex problems can best be solved by cross-functional teams typical of matrix organizations; and that people who work, live and learn in integrated settings develop stronger interpersonal communications and negotiating skills.

Diversity enhances confidence and improves the contributions made by people in such environments. Valuing and respecting each individual simply makes good sense. Success and productivity are natural extensions of a corporate culture that truly values all people, putting diversity among our top corporate priorities.

Equal Opportunity
Ford Motor Company is an equal opportunity employer committed to a culturally diverse workforce. Here is a brief statement of our commitment:

Opportunities for employment and advancement will be available on a non-discriminatory basis--without regard to race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, handicap, or veteran status. We take affirmative action in accordance with law to have minorities and women represented appropriately throughout the workforce and to provide qualified handicapped persons, disabled veterans and veterans of the Vietnam era opportunity for employment and advancement.

Technology Leadership
Henry Ford instituted the assembly line in 1908. It revolutionized mass production, lowering prices and enabling the average person to own a car.

Since that time, Ford has always been a leader in the long march of technology. True to our heritage of innovation, Ford engineers and scientists continue in the forefront of our industry, creating new techniques and solutions to improve our vehicles and delight our customers.

By bringing the right people to our company, that’s a leadership position we intend to keep!

The Dream Becomes a Business

Ford Motor Company entered the business world on June 16, 1903, when Henry Ford and 11 business associates signed the company's articles of incorporation. With $28,000 in cash, the pioneering industrialists gave birth to what was to become one of the world's largest corporations. Few companies are as closely identified with the history and development of industry and society throughout the 20th century as Ford Motor Company.

As with most great enterprises, Ford Motor Company's beginnings were modest. The company had anxious moments in its infancy. The earliest record of a shipment is July 20, 1903, approximately one month after incorporation, to a Detroit physician. With the company's first sale came hope—a young Ford Motor Company had taken its first steps.

Mass Production on the Line

Perhaps Ford Motor Company's single greatest contribution to automotive manufacturing was the moving assembly line. First implemented at the Highland Park plant (in Michigan, US) in 1913, the new technique allowed individual workers to stay in one place and perform the same task repeatedly on multiple vehicles that passed by them. The line proved tremendously efficient, helping the company far surpass the production levels of their competitors—and making the vehicles more affordable.

The First Vehicles

Henry Ford insisted that the company's future lay in the production of affordable cars for a mass market. Beginning in 1903, the company began using the first 19 letters of the alphabet to name new cars. In 1908, the Model T was born. 19 years and 15 million Model T's later, Ford Motor Company was a giant industrial complex that spanned the globe. In 1925, Ford Motor Company acquired the Lincoln Motor Company, thus branching out into luxury cars, and in the 1930's, the Mercury division was created to establish a division centered on mid-priced cars. Ford Motor Company was growing.

Becoming a Global Company

In the 50's came the Thunderbird and the chance to own a part of Ford Motor Company. The company went public and, on Feb. 24, 1956, had about 350,000 new stockholders. Henry Ford II's keen perception of political and economic trends in the 50's led to the global expansion of FMC in the 60's, and the establishment of Ford of Europe in 1967, 20 years ahead of the European Economic Community's arrival. The company established its North American Automotive Operations in 1971, consolidating U.S., Canadian, and Mexican operations more than two decades ahead of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Ford Motor Company started the last century with a single man envisioning products that would meet the needs of people in a world on the verge of high-gear industrialization. Today, Ford Motor Company is a family of automotive brands consisting of: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Volvo. The company is beginning its second century of existence with a worldwide organization that retains and expands Henry Ford's heritage by developing products that serve the varying and ever-changing needs of people in the global community.

A Summary
From comprehensive insurance to generous vacation, Ford Motor Company offers an extensive—and flexible—benefit package. Here is a summary of our key programs for U.S. full-time salaried employees. The company may change benefits at any time. (Ford Credit benefits may differ.)

Insurance

Health Care
Medical coverage is available for all new Ford Motor Company employees on the first day of employment. Dependents are also covered, including an eligible spouse or same-sex domestic partner, and children. On the first day of the fourth month of employment, employees become eligible for Ford Flex, which includes medical, dental, vision, prescription, life insurance and disability insurance coverage.

Medical
Ford Motor Company offers HMOs and PPOs. Each provides a wide variety of coverage for employees and their dependents. Hospital, surgical and medical benefits, as well as availability, vary for each of these plans.

Dental
Employees and eligible dependents can elect dental coverage for a monthly contribution of approximately 10% of the company's cost. These benefits include usual, customary and reasonable (UCR) charges for routine preventive care. Most other treatments are covered at 50 to 70 percent of UCR charges. Dental and orthodontic services have limitations for each eligible person. Alternative plans are also available, and coverage may also be declined.

Prescriptions
The Ford Medical Plan, a PPO, has a $7 co-pay for generic prescriptions and $15 to $35 for brand names. Other co-pays apply to mail-order suppliers. HMO and other PPO plans provide separate prescription drug coverage.

Life Insurance
Ford Motor Company provides life insurance equal to one and one-half times annual base salary.

Disability
Benefits are also available due to disability from accident, illness or pregnancy. These benefits increase with length of service and begin after six months of employment.


Paid Time Off

Vacations
Ford Motor Company has a very generous paid vacation policy that is based on years of service. Five days of paid vacation are available to new employees hired between January 1 and August 1 in the year of hire. As many as 25 days of paid time off are available after 20 years.

Holidays
The number of paid holidays varies from year to year. There are 15 days off in 2005, including the days between Christmas and New Year’s Day.


Retirement
Enrollment in the salaried employee retirement plan is automatic upon your date of hire. The company makes periodic contributions to employee accounts, and employees make their own investment choices from a selection of mutual funds.

Investments

Ford Money Market Account
This program is available to all salaried employees at time of hiring. It allows employees to invest through payroll deductions. It provides money-market interest rates, liquidity and preservation of capital.

Savings And Stock Investment Plans
SSIP is available to employees after one month of service. It is a convenient and diverse savings program that allows tax-deferred and after-tax investments through automatic salary deduction. Certain rollover contributions from previous employers are also accepted in the SSIP program.

Those Little Extras

Our Personal Protection Plan allows employees and retirees to purchase auto, homeowner/renter and personal liability insurance at group rates through payroll and pension deductions. In addition, we provide programs for vehicle purchases, matching gifts to qualified institutions, tuition assistance, a dependent scholarship program, and recreational programs