Ford Asia Pacific and Africa: People

Our employees are crucial to delivering our vision of building great products that contribute to a better world.

In Thailand, our employees had the opportunity to test drive the all-new Ford Focus to build awareness and excitement for the launch. The full-day immersion included classroom sessions and specially tailored test-drive stations designed to highlight specific Focus features.

Throughout the APA region, Ford has made a positive impact on communities and the environment through initiatives such as the Global Week of Caring, the annual Conservation and Environmental Grants China Program (CEGC) and the Ford Driving Skills for Life (Ford DSFL) program, which teaches drivers about fuel efficiency as well as safety.

Since Ford launched the CEGC program in 2000, for example, we have awarded more than $2.7 million in grants to hundreds of grassroots organizations and individuals to support environmental projects throughout China. Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford was in Shanghai to hand out the CEGC grants to winners in 2012 – the third time he has attended the CEGC award ceremony.

In Australia, Ford was the naming-rights sponsor of the annual Ford Rainforest Ride, a mass-participation road-cycling event that aims to encourage respect between vehicle owners and bike riders on the road, and educate them about safe driving habits. Hosted by Geelong’s premier philanthropic organization, Give Where You Live, Ford’s V8 racecar drivers Mark Winterbottom, Will Davison and David Reynolds took part in the Ford Rainforest Ride in February 2013. The event raised $70,000 for the charity.

See the Investing in Communities section for a full list of our Global Week of Caring and other volunteerism efforts in the APA region and elsewhere.

Workplace Health and Safety

The year 2012 marked the second year since 1918 in which we did not have an employee work-related fatality. Tragically, however, we did experience the fatality of a joint venture (JV) employee at our JV facility in Thailand. Our primary objective remains zero fatalities on Ford property. For a discussion of our global commitment to health and safety, please see the Workplace Health and Safety section.

For a discussion of our global commitment to our stakeholders, please see the People section.

$2.7 million in grants awarded