Water Strategy Approach

Water conservation is increasingly important to our stakeholders and to our own operations, particularly in our areas of operation that face challenges such as drought and significant population growth. By reporting our progress, we support positive social change and reduce the environmental impacts of our facilities.

Ford’s water strategy, which looks at our water use from both an environmental and a social perspective, is evaluated at the highest levels of our Company. Our Board of Directors reviewed our water-related progress in 2011.

We have established a cross-functional team from across Ford divisions, including our environmental quality, manufacturing, purchasing, research and community engagement functions, to review water issues in a holistic way. This team has been meeting with a variety of groups – such as the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), the U.N. Global Compact, the U.S. State Department and the Global Water Challenge (GWC) – to gain a better appreciation of outside stakeholder perspectives.

In 2012, we intend to sign the United Nations’ CEO Water Mandate, a public/private initiative designed to assist companies in the development, implementation and disclosure of water sustainability policies and practices. And to further increase our engagement around global water issues, we recently became a founding partner of the U.S. Water Partnership.

Our water strategy actions work toward several objectives, including the following:

• Minimizing water use and consumption at Ford facilities
• Finding ways to use alternative, lower-quality water sources
• Prioritizing our water technology investments based on local water scarcity and cost effectiveness
• Meeting either local quality standards or Ford global standards for wastewater discharge – whichever is more stringent
• Ensuring a stable water supply for our manufacturing facilities while working with local communities to minimize our impact