Our Strategy: Blueprint for Sustainability

To respond to the risks and opportunities posed by the climate change issue, our long-term strategy is to contribute to climate stabilization by:

  • Continuously reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy usage of our operations
  • Developing the flexibility and capability to market lower-GHG-emission products, in line with evolving market conditions
  • Working with industry partners, energy companies, consumer groups and policy makers to establish an effective and predictable market, policy and technological framework for reducing GHG emissions

Our product plans in all regions are aligned with our overall goal of contributing to climate stabilization. Our blueprint for sustainability, which spells out our technology and product strategy to meet this goal, is based on modeling of vehicle and fuel contributions to emission reductions and an analysis of market and regulatory trends (see figure below).

 

Product Sustainability Process

Product Sustainability Process diagram

The blueprint’s product strategy – called the Sustainable Technologies and Alternative Fuels Plan – details steps we are taking in the foreseeable future to develop and deploy vehicle and fuel technologies. The blueprint is supported by our sustainable mobility governance, which establishes structures and accountability for implementing the strategy.

We believe this strategy is already showing results by positioning our Company to take advantage of opportunities created by shifts in markets. We have implemented all of the near-term actions, and our commitment to outstanding fuel economy aligns well with consumer interest in fuel-sipping vehicles. During 2010, for example, our U.S. market share grew for the second year in a row, driven in part by the popularity of several of our vehicles that achieve best-in-class fuel economy.

For the longer term, we are preparing to provide regionally appropriate approaches based on global platforms to advanced vehicle technologies, including electric vehicles, biofuel vehicles and (as fuel and infrastructure become available) hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. In addition, we have conducted dialogues with stakeholders, exploring sustainable mobility projects to demonstrate mobility solutions that meet the needs of urban and rural communities by leveraging information technology to integrate private and public transportation options. Please see the Sustaining Ford section for more details.