Improving Vehicle Interior Air Quality and Choosing Allergy-Tested Materials

At Ford, we regard it as our corporate social responsibility to develop and offer products that are safe, sustainable and progressive. As part of this effort, Ford is proactively addressing society's growing concern about air quality and allergies. Consistent with our ONE Ford global integration process, a global cross-functional team focuses on selecting interior materials to reduce the risk of allergies and volatile organic compounds and works with suppliers to verify that we meet voluntary initiatives through rigorous scientific testing. This team is committed to investigating and developing comprehensive global approaches and strategies to address issues relating to vehicle interior air quality. The team has established global design guidelines for materials and filtration and is migrating those guidelines across Ford's product line.

Ford of Europe vehicles were the first vehicles worldwide to be awarded an "allergy-tested interior" certification by TÜV Rheinland, a Germany-based organization that controls and approves quality standards for industrial and consumer products. To obtain this certification, components in the vehicle interior must meet strict requirements focused on three key areas: measuring and meeting standards for the in-vehicle concentration of volatile organic compounds; minimizing the risk of allergic reactions; and high-efficiency air filtration. The requirements for minimizing the risk of allergic reactions include ensuring that no substances with allergenic potential (e.g., latex, nickel, chromium VI) are used for components that are likely to have contact with people's skin. They also require the use of an efficient pollen filter to protect passengers against allergenic particles in the outdoor air. Eight of Ford's European models have met these requirements: the new Fiesta, the European Focus (including the Focus Coupe-Cabriolet), the C-MAX, Kuga, S-MAX, Galaxy and Mondeo. In February 2008, the Berlin-based European Center for Allergy Research Foundation awarded Ford with its quality certificate – an additional recognition of the Company's "allergy-tested interior vehicle" initiative.