title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Jane was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII through his younger daughter Mary, and was a first cousin once removed of Edward VI. She had an excellent humanist education, and a reputation as one of the most learned young women of her day. In May 1553, she married Lord Guildford Dudley, a younger son of Edward's chief minister John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. In June 1553, Edward VI wrote his will, nominating Jane and her male heirs as successors to the Crown, in part because his half-sister Mary was Catholic, while Jane was a committed Protestant and would support the reformed Church of England, whose foundation Edward laid. The will removed his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, from the line of succession on account of their illegitimacy, subverting their claims under the Third Succession Act.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: After Edward's death, Jane was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553, and awaited coronation in the Tower of London. Support for Mary grew quickly, and most of Jane's supporters abandoned her. The Privy Council of England suddenly changed sides, and proclaimed Mary as queen on 19 July 1553, deposing Jane. Her primary supporter, her father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland, was accused of treason, and executed less than a month later. Jane was held prisoner in the Tower, and was convicted of high treason in November 1553, which carried a sentence of death.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Mary initially spared her life; however, Jane soon became viewed as a threat to the Crown when her father, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, became involved with Wyatt's rebellion against Queen Mary's intention to marry Philip II of Spain. Jane and her husband were executed on 12 February 1554.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Lady Jane Grey was the eldest daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and his wife, Frances. The traditional view is that she was born at Bradgate Park in Leicestershire in October 1537, while more recent research indicates that she was born somewhat earlier, possibly in London, sometime before May 1537 or between May 1536 and February 1537. This would coincide with the fact that she was noted as being in her seventeenth year at the time of her execution. Frances was the eldest daughter of Henry VIII's younger sister, Mary. Jane had two younger sisters: Lady Katherine and Lady Mary. Through their mother, the three sisters were great-granddaughters of Henry VII; great-nieces of Henry VIII; and first cousins once removed of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Jane received a humanist education from John Aylmer, speaking Latin and Greek from an early age, also studying Hebrew with Aylmer, and Italian with Michelangelo Florio. Through the influence of her father and her tutors, she became a committed Protestant and also corresponded with the Zürich reformer Heinrich Bullinger.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: She preferred academic studies rather than activities such as hunting parties and allegedly regarded her strict upbringing, which was typical of the time, as harsh. To the visiting scholar Roger Ascham, who found her reading Plato, she is said to have complained:


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: For when I am in the presence either of father or mother, whether I speak, keep silence, sit, stand or go, eat, drink, be merry or sad, be sewing, playing, dancing, or doing anything else, I must do it as it were in such weight, measure and number, even so perfectly as God made the world; or else I am so sharply taunted, so cruelly threatened, yea presently sometimes with pinches, nips and bobs and other ways (which I will not name for the honour I bear them) ... that I think myself in hell.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Around February 1547, Jane was sent to live in the household of Edward VI's uncle, Thomas Seymour, who soon married Henry VIII's widow, Catherine Parr. Jane lived with the couple at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire as an attendant to Catherine, until Catherine died in childbirth in September 1548.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Lady Jane acted as chief mourner at Catherine Parr's funeral; Thomas Seymour showed continued interest to keep her in his household, and she returned there for about two months before he was arrested at the end of 1548. Seymour's brother, the Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, felt threatened by Thomas' popularity with the young King Edward. Among other things, Thomas Seymour was charged with proposing Jane as a bride for the king.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: In the course of Thomas Seymour's following attainder and execution, Jane's father was lucky to stay largely out of trouble. After his fourth interrogation by the King's Council, he proposed his daughter Jane as a bride for the Protector's eldest son, Lord Hertford. Nothing came of this, however, and Jane was not engaged until 25 May 1553, her bridegroom being Lord Guildford Dudley, a younger son of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland. The Duke, Lord President of the King's Council from late 1549, was then the most powerful man in the country. On 25 May 1553, the couple were married at Durham House in a triple wedding, in which Jane's sister Catherine was matched with the heir of the Earl of Pembroke, Lord Herbert, and another Katherine, Lord Guildford's sister, with Henry Hastings, the Earl of Huntingdon's heir.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: The Third Succession Act of 1544 restored Henry VIII's daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to the line of succession, although they were still regarded as illegitimate. Furthermore, this Act authorised Henry VIII to alter the succession by his will. Henry's will reinforced the succession of his three children, and then declared that, should none of them leave descendants, the throne would pass to heirs of his younger sister, Mary, which included Jane. For reasons unknown, Henry excluded Jane's mother, Frances Grey, from the succession, and also bypassed the claims of the descendants of his elder sister, Margaret, who had married into the Scottish royal house and nobility.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Both Mary and Elizabeth had been named illegitimate by statute during the reign of Henry VIII after his marriages to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn had been declared void. When the 15-year-old Edward VI lay dying in early summer 1553, his Catholic half-sister Mary was still his heir presumptive. Edward, in a draft will ("My devise for the Succession") composed earlier in 1553, had first restricted the succession to (non-existent) male descendants of Frances Brandon and her daughters, before he named his Protestant cousin "Lady Jane and her heirs male" as his successors, probably in June 1553; the intent was to ensure his Protestant legacy, thereby bypassing Mary, a Roman Catholic. Edward's decision to name Jane Grey herself was possibly instigated by Northumberland.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Edward VI personally supervised the copying of his will which was finally issued as letters patent on 21 June and signed by 102 notables, among them the whole Privy Council, peers, bishops, judges, and London aldermen. Edward also announced to have his "declaration" passed in parliament in September, and the necessary writs were prepared.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: The King died on 6 July 1553, but his death was not announced until four days later. On 9 July, Jane was informed that she was now queen, and according to her own later claims, accepted the crown only with reluctance. On 10 July, she was officially proclaimed Queen of England, France and Ireland after she had taken up secure residence in the Tower of London, where English monarchs customarily resided from the time of accession until coronation. Jane refused to name her husband Dudley as king, because that would require an Act of Parliament. It was planned she would make him Duke of Clarence upon her coronation.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Northumberland faced a number of key tasks to consolidate his power after Edward's death. Most importantly, he had to isolate and, ideally, capture Mary Tudor to prevent her from gathering support. As soon as Mary was sure of King Edward's demise, she left her residence at Hunsdon and set out to East Anglia, where she began to rally her supporters. Northumberland set out from London with troops on 14 July to capture Mary. The Privy Council switched their allegiance and proclaimed Mary queen in London, on 19 July. The historical consensus assumes that this was in recognition of overwhelming support of the population for Mary. However, there is no clear evidence for that outside Norfolk and Suffolk, where Northumberland had put down Kett's Rebellion, hence where princess Mary sought refuge. Rather, it seems that Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel—whom Northumberland had arrested and detained twice as an ally of Somerset, before rehabilitating him—engineered a coup d'état in the Privy Council in Northumberland's absence.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Jane is often called the Nine-Day Queen, although if her reign is dated from the moment of Edward's death on 6 July 1553, her reign could have been a few days longer. On 19 July 1553, Jane was imprisoned in the Tower's Gentleman Gaoler's (Jailer's) apartments, her husband in the Beauchamp Tower. The Duke of Northumberland was executed on 22 August 1553. In September, Parliament declared Mary the rightful successor and denounced and revoked Jane's proclamation as that of a usurper.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Referred to by the court as Jane Dudley, wife of Guildford, Jane was charged with high treason, as were her husband, two of his brothers, and the former archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. Their trial, by a special commission, took place on 13 November 1553, at Guildhall in the City of London. The commission was chaired by Sir Thomas White, Lord Mayor of London, and Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Other members included Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby, and John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath. As was to be expected, all defendants were found guilty and sentenced to death. Jane's guilt, of having treacherously assumed the title and the power of the monarch, was evidenced by a number of documents she had signed as "Jane the Quene". Her sentence was to "be burned alive on Tower Hill or beheaded as the Queen pleases" (burning was the traditional English punishment for treason committed by women). The imperial ambassador reported to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, that her life was to be spared.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: The rebellion of Thomas Wyatt the Younger in January 1554 against Queen Mary's marriage plans with Philip of Spain sealed Jane's fate. Her father, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and his two brothers joined the rebellion, and so the government decided to go through with the verdict against Jane and Guildford. Their execution was first scheduled for 9 February 1554, but was then postponed for three days to give Jane a chance to convert to the Catholic faith. Mary sent her chaplain John Feckenham to Jane, who was initially not pleased about this. Though she would not give in to his efforts "to save her soul", she became friends with him and allowed him to accompany her to the scaffold.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: On the morning of 12 February 1554, the authorities took Guildford from his rooms at the Tower of London to the public execution place at Tower Hill, where he was beheaded. A horse and cart brought his remains back to the Tower, past the rooms where Jane was staying. Seeing her husband's corpse return, Jane is reported to have exclaimed: "Oh, Guildford, Guildford." She was then taken out to Tower Green, inside the Tower, to be beheaded. According to the account of her execution given in the anonymous "Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary", which formed the basis for Raphael Holinshed's depiction, Jane gave a speech upon ascending the scaffold:


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same. The fact, indeed, against the Queen's highness was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me: but touching the procurement and desire thereof by me or on my behalf, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency, before God, and the face of you, good Christian people, this day.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: While admitting to action considered unlawful, she declared that "I do wash my hands thereof in innocence". Jane then recited Psalm 51 ("Have mercy upon me, O God") in English, and handed her gloves and handkerchief to her maid. The executioner asked her forgiveness, which she granted him, pleading: "I pray you dispatch me quickly." Referring to her head, she asked, "Will you take it off before I lay me down?", and the axeman answered: "No, madam." She then blindfolded herself. Jane then failed to find the block with her hands, and cried, "What shall I do? Where is it?" Probably Sir Thomas Brydges, the Deputy Lieutenant of the Tower, helped her find her way. With her head on the block, Jane spoke the last words of Jesus as recounted by Luke: "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit!" The axe then fell in one clean stroke.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: Jane and Guildford are buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula on the north side of Tower Green. No memorial stone was erected at their grave. Jane's father, the Duke of Suffolk, was executed 11 days after Jane, on 23 February 1554. Her mother, the Duchess of Suffolk, married her Master of the Horse and chamberlain, Adrian Stokes, in March 1555. She was fully pardoned by Mary and allowed to live at Court with her two surviving daughters. She died in 1559.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: "The traitor-heroine of the Reformation", as historian Albert Pollard called her, was only a teenager at the time of her execution. During and in the aftermath of the Marian persecutions, Jane became viewed as a Protestant martyr for centuries, featuring prominently in the several editions of "Foxe's Book of Martyrs" ("Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Dayes") by John Foxe. The tale of Lady Jane grew to legendary proportions in popular culture, producing romantic biographies, novels, plays, operas, paintings, and films, notably "Lady Jane" starring Helena Bonham Carter.


title: Lady Jane Grey

text: "Italics" indicate people who predeceased Edward VI;Arabic numerals (1–5) indicate Edward VI's line of succession at his death according to Henry VIII's will; andRoman numerals (I–III) indicate Edward VI's line of succession at his death according to Edward's will.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand, and luxury cars under its Lincoln luxury brand. Ford also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer Troller, an 8% stake in Aston Martin of the United Kingdom and a 32% stake in China's Jiangling Motors. It also has joint ventures in China (Changan Ford), Taiwan (Ford Lio Ho), Thailand (AutoAlliance Thailand), Turkey (Ford Otosan), and Russia (Ford Sollers). The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family; they have minority ownership but the majority of the voting power.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines; by 1914, these methods were known around the world as Fordism. Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover, acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively, were sold to the Indian automaker Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010. In 2011, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed entry-level luxury cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford is the second-largest U.S.-based automaker (behind General Motors) and the fifth-largest in the world (behind Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai and General Motors) based on 2015 vehicle production. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth-largest automaker in Europe. The company went public in 1956 but the Ford family, through special Class B shares, still retain 40 percent of the voting rights. During the financial crisis of 2007–08 the company struggled financially but did not have to be rescued by the federal government, unlike the other two major US automakers. Ford Motors has since returned to profitability, and was the eleventh-ranked overall American-based company in the 2018 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2017 of $156.7 billion. In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants and facilities worldwide.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The Henry Ford Company was Henry Ford's first attempt at a car manufacturing company and was established on November 3, 1901. This became the Cadillac Motor Company on August 22, 1902, after Ford left with the rights to his name. The Ford Motor Company was launched in a converted factory in 1903 with $28,000 () in cash from twelve investors, most notably John and Horace Dodge (who would later found their own car company). The first president was not Ford, but local banker John S. Gray, who was chosen in order to assuage investors' fears that Ford would leave the new company the way he had left its predecessor. During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at its factory on Mack Avenue and later at its factory on Piquette Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Groups of two or three men worked on each car, assembling it from parts made mostly by supplier companies contracting for Ford. Within a decade the company led the world in the expansion and refinement of the assembly line concept, and Ford soon brought much of the part production in-house (vertical integration).


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Henry Ford was 39 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company, which would go on to become one of the world's largest and most profitable companies. It has been in continuous family control for over 100 years and is one of the largest family-controlled companies in the world.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The first gasoline-powered automobile had been created in 1885 by the German inventor Karl Benz (Benz Patent-Motorwagen). More efficient production methods were needed to make automobiles affordable for the middle class, to which Ford contributed by, for instance, introducing the first moving assembly line in 1913 at the Ford factory in Highland Park.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Between 1903 and 1908, Ford produced the Models A, B, C, F, K, N, R, and S. Hundreds or a few thousand of most of these were sold per year. In 1908, Ford introduced the mass-produced Model T, which totaled millions sold over nearly 20 years. In 1927, Ford replaced the T with the Model A, the first car with safety glass in the windshield. Ford launched the first low-priced car with a V8 engine in 1932.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In an attempt to compete with General Motors' mid-priced Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick, Ford created the Mercury in 1939 as a higher-priced companion car to Ford. Henry Ford purchased the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922, in order to compete with such brands as Cadillac and Packard for the luxury segment of the automobile market.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 1929, Ford was contracted by the government of the Soviet Union to set up the Gorky Automobile Plant in Russia initially producing Ford Model A and AAs thereby playing an important role in the industrialization of that country.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: During World War II, the United States Department of War picked Ford to mass-produce the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber at its Willow Run assembly plant. Ford Germany, Ford's subsidiary in Germany, produced military vehicles and other equipment for Nazi Germany's war effort. Some of Ford's operations in Germany at the time were run using forced labor.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The creation of a scientific laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan, in 1951, doing unfettered basic research, led to Ford's unlikely involvement in superconductivity research. In 1964, Ford Research Labs made a key breakthrough with the invention of a superconducting quantum interference device or SQUID.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford offered the Lifeguard safety package from 1956, which included such innovations as a standard deep-dish steering wheel, optional front, and, for the first time in a car, rear seatbelts, and an optional padded dash. Ford introduced child-proof door locks into its products in 1957, and, in the same year, offered the first retractable hardtop on a mass-produced six-seater car.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In late 1955, Ford established the Continental division as a separate luxury car division. This division was responsible for the manufacture and sale of the famous Continental Mark II. At the same time, the Edsel division was created to design and market that car starting with the 1958 model year. Due to limited sales of the Continental and the Edsel disaster, Ford merged Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln into "M-E-L," which reverted to "Lincoln-Mercury" after Edsel's November 1959 demise.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The Ford Mustang was introduced on April 17, 1964, during New York World's Fair (where Ford had a pavilion made by The Walt Disney Company.) In 1965, Ford introduced the seat belt reminder light.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: With the 1980s, Ford introduced several highly successful vehicles around the world. During the 1980s, Ford began using the advertising slogan, "Have you driven a Ford, lately?" to introduce new customers to their brand and make their vehicles appear more modern. In 1990 and 1994 respectively, Ford also acquired Jaguar Cars and Aston Martin. During the mid-to-late 1990s, Ford continued to sell large numbers of vehicles, in a booming American economy with a soaring stock market and low fuel prices.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: With the dawn of the new century, legacy health care costs, higher fuel prices, and a faltering economy led to falling market shares, declining sales, and diminished profit margins. Most of the corporate profits came from financing consumer automobile loans through Ford Motor Credit Company.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: By 2005, both Ford and GM's corporate bonds had been downgraded to junk status as a result of high U.S. health care costs for an aging workforce, soaring gasoline prices, eroding market share, and an overdependence on declining SUV sales. Profit margins decreased on large vehicles due to increased "incentives" (in the form of rebates or low-interest financing) to offset declining demand. In the latter half of 2005, Chairman Bill Ford asked newly appointed Ford Americas Division President Mark Fields to develop a plan to return the company to profitability. Fields previewed the plan, named "The Way Forward", at the board meeting of the company on December 7, 2005, and it was unveiled to the public on January 23, 2006. "The Way Forward" included resizing the company to match market realities, dropping some unprofitable and inefficient models, consolidating production lines, closing 14 factories and cutting 30,000 jobs.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford moved to introduce a range of new vehicles, including "Crossover SUVs" built on unibody car platforms, rather than more body-on-frame chassis. In developing the hybrid electric powertrain technologies for the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, the company licensed similar Toyota hybrid technologies in order to avoid patent infringements. Ford announced that it would team up with electricity supply company Southern California Edison (SCE) to examine the future of plug-in hybrids in terms of how home and vehicle energy systems will work with the electrical grid. Under the multimillion-dollar, multi-year project, Ford is to convert a demonstration fleet of Ford Escape Hybrids into plug-in hybrids, and SCE is to evaluate how the vehicles might interact with the home and the utility's electrical grid. Some of the vehicles are to be evaluated "in typical customer settings", according to Ford.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: William Clay Ford Jr., great-grandson of Henry Ford (and better known by his nickname "Bill"), was appointed executive chairman in 1998, and also became chief executive officer of the company in 2001, with the departure of Jacques Nasser, becoming the first member of the Ford family to head the company since the retirement of his uncle, Henry Ford II, in 1982. Ford sold motorsport engineering company Cosworth to Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven in 2004, the start of a decrease in Ford's motorsport involvement. Upon the retirement of president and chief operations officer Jim Padilla in April 2006, Bill Ford assumed his roles as well. Five months later, in September, Ford named Alan Mulally as president and CEO, with Ford continuing as executive chairman. In December 2006, the company raised its borrowing capacity to about $25 billion, placing substantially all corporate assets as collateral. Chairman Bill Ford has stated that "bankruptcy is not an option". Ford and the United Auto Workers, representing approximately 46,000 hourly workers in North America, agreed to a historic contract settlement in November 2007 giving the company a substantial break in terms of its ongoing retiree health care costs and other economic issues. The agreement included the establishment of a company-funded, independently run Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust to shift the burden of retiree health care from the company's books, thereby improving its balance sheet. This arrangement took effect on January 1, 2010. As a sign of its currently strong cash position, Ford contributed its entire current liability (estimated at as of December 31, 2009) to the VEBA in cash, and also pre-paid of its future liabilities to the fund. The agreement also gave hourly workers the job security they were seeking by having the company commit to substantial investments in most of its factories.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The automaker reported the largest annual loss in company history in 2006 of $12.7 billion, and estimated that it would not return to profitability until 2009. However, Ford surprised Wall Street in the second quarter of 2007 by posting a $750 million profit. Despite the gains, the company finished the year with a $2.7 billion loss, largely attributed to finance restructuring at Volvo.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: During congressional hearings held in November 2008 at Washington D.C., Ford's Alan Mulally stated that "We at Ford are hopeful that we have enough liquidity. But we also must prepare ourselves for the prospect of further deteriorating economic conditions". He went on to state that "The collapse of one of our competitors would have a severe impact on Ford" and that Ford Motor Company supported both Chrysler and General Motors in their search for government bridge loans in the face of conditions caused by the 2008 financial crisis. Together, the three companies presented action plans for the sustainability of the industry. Mulally stated that "In addition to our plan, we are also here today to request support for the industry. In the near-term, Ford does not require access to a government bridge loan. However, we request a credit line of $9 billion as a critical backstop or safeguard against worsening conditions as we drive transformational change in our company". GM and Chrysler received government loans and financing through T.A.R.P. legislation funding provisions.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: On December 19, the cost of credit default swaps to insure the debt of Ford was 68 percent of the sum insured for five years, in addition to annual payments of 5 percent. That meant $6.8 million paid upfront to insure $10 million in debt, in addition to payments of $500,000 per year. In January 2009, Ford reported a $14.6 billion loss in the preceding year, a record for the company. The company retained sufficient liquidity to fund its operations. Through April 2009, Ford's strategy of debt-for-equity exchanges erased $9.9 billion in liabilities (28% of its total) in order to leverage its cash position. These actions yielded Ford a $2.7 billion profit in fiscal year 2009, the company's first full-year profit in four years. In 2012, Ford's corporate bonds were upgraded from junk to investment grade again, citing sustainable, lasting improvements.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: On October 29, 2012, Ford announced the sale of its climate control components business, its last remaining automotive components operation, to Detroit Thermal Systems LLC for an undisclosed price.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: On November 1, 2012, Ford announced that CEO Alan Mulally would stay with the company until 2014. Ford also named Mark Fields, its president of operations in the Americas, as its new chief operating officer Mulally was paid a compensation of over $174 million in his previous seven years at Ford since 2006. The generous amount has been a sore point for some workers of the company.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In April 2016, Ford announced a plan to modernize its Dearborn engineering and headquarters campuses through a ten-year building project. The result would see the number of Ford employees working in these areas doubling, to 24,000. During construction, some 2000 of the employees were relocated out of the campus to a temporary location in a disused section of the local shopping mall. Facilities would also be altered to allow ride-sharing and electric and self-driving vehicles. Estimates of the construction cost were $1.2 billion.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: On January 3, 2017, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced that in a "vote of confidence" because of the pro-business climate being fostered in part by President-elect Donald Trump, Ford had canceled plans to invest $1.6 billion in a new plant in Mexico to manufacture the Ford Focus; instead, the company would invest $700 million in Michigan, which it planned to use to create 700 new jobs. The Focus would now be manufactured in the existing plant in Mexico. Also in 2017, Ford began development of a new mixed-use urban campus in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, with its purchase, renovation, and occupation of The Factory at Michigan and Rosa Parks. The new site was expected to have a major focus on the development of autonomous vehicle and electric vehicle technology. Ford later began buying up other parcels of land in Corktown including a very high-profile purchase of Michigan Central Station which is planned to become the hub of their Corktown campus, and the adjacent Roosevelt Warehouse. Ford expects to move 2,500 of its employees, roughly 5 percent of its southeast Michigan workforce, to the campus with space for an additional 2,500 entrepreneurs, technology companies and partners. Bill Ford envisioned the first-floor concourse of the train station to be a public gathering place with retail outlets and restaurants.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In May 2017, Ford announced cuts to its global workforce amid efforts to address the company's declining share price and to improve profits. The company is targeting $3 billion in cost reduction and a nearly 10% reduction in the salaried workforce in Asia and North America to enhance earnings in 2018. Jim Hackett was announced to replace Mark Fields as CEO of Ford Motor. Mr. Hackett most recently oversaw the formation of Ford Smart Mobility, a unit responsible for experimenting with car-sharing programs, self-driving ventures and other programs aimed at helping Ford better compete with Uber, Alphabet Inc. and other tech giants looking to edge in on the auto industry.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: On April 25, 2018, Ford announced that it would discontinue passenger cars in the North American market in the next four years, except for the Mustang, due to declining demand and profitability. The Focus Active, a crossover SUV based on the newly unveiled fourth-generation Focus, was also intended to be marketed in the United States. Due to the vehicle being manufactured in China, Ford later announced that it would not release the Focus Active in the United States, due to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese exports.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In March 2020, the Detroit United Auto Workers union announced that after discussion with the leaders of General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the carmakers would partially shut down factories on a "rotating" basis to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 24, representatives of Ford announced that production in the US, Canada, and Mexico would not resume on March 30 as originally planned, amid the further coronavirus pandemic spread. In the first quarter of 2020, Ford's sales dropped by 15%, entailing the loss of $2 billion.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: With the change in the demand for the sport vehicles, on January 6, 2021, Ford reported a sales fall of 9.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 542,749 vehicles, compared to 601,862 in 2019.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In April 2021, Ford said that it would provide COVID-19 vaccines for its employees, who were to obtain them at the company; at the beginning the vaccination program would be in southeast Michigan, Missouri and Ohio, but it was to be expanded later on to other locations.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In March 2022, Ford announced that it would restructure the company into three separate divisions. Ford Model E is to focus on electric vehicles; Ford Blue is to focus on internal combustion vehicles; and the existing commercial division is to be rebranded as Ford Pro, to focus on vehicle distribution and service.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In August 2022, Ford announced it planned layoffs of roughly 3,000 employees and contract workers, confirming earlier reporting. The cuts would mostly affect divisions in the US, Canada, and India, which Jim Farley said would allow the company to prepare for the future of electric, software-heavy vehicles.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Members of the Ford board are: Stephen Butler, Kimberly Casiano, Anthony F. Earley, Jr., Edsel Ford II, William Clay Ford Jr. (executive chairman), Jim Hackett (president and CEO), William W. Helman IV, William E. Kennard, John C. Lechleiter, Ellen Marram, John L. Thornton, John Veihmeyer, Lynn Vojvodich, and John S. Weinberg.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In August 2020, it was revealed that Jim Farley is to become the new chief executive officer of the company; he previously served as Ford's chief operating officer. The company's former CEO, Hackett, will stay in the company as an advisor until the second quarter of 2021.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The Ford Motor Company Fund (also known as Ford Fund, not affiliated with the Ford Foundation), based in Dearborn, Michigan, is the philanthropic arm of the Ford Motor Company. Established in 1949 by Henry Ford II, Ford Fund is a nonprofit corporate foundation financed by contributions from Ford Motor Company. In 2017, Ford Fund contributed $63 million to various causes with a focus on education, driving safely and community building.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The Ford Driving Skills for Life program is a driver safety program aimed at teens that were developed together with the Governors Highway Safety Association and safety experts. The Ford Volunteer Corps allows Ford employees and retirees to sign up for volunteering work on local projects in more than 40 countries. The Ford Fund invests $18 million annually in education in the United States and around the world, but accepts applications only from nonprofit organizations registered in the U.S. Education programs and scholarships include Alan Mulally Engineering Scholarship, Ford Blue Oval Scholars Program, Ford College Community Challenge (Ford C3), Ford Driving Dreams Tour, Ford Fund/Detroit Free Press Journalism Scholarship, Ford Next Generation Learning (Ford NGL), Grants to Individuals Program, HBCU Community Challenge, Smithsonian Latino Center Young Ambassadors Program, and William Clay Ford Automotive Design Scholarship.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford has had manufacturing operations worldwide, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and South Africa. Ford also has a cooperative agreement with Russian automaker GAZ.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In May 2010, Ford reported that its sales increased 23% for the month, and that 37% of its sales came from fleet sales. In June 2010, sales to individual customers at dealerships increased 13% while fleet sales rose by 32%. In the first seven months of 2010, fleet sales of Ford for the same period rose 35% to 386,000 units while retail sales increase 19%. Fleet sales account for 39 percent of Chrysler's sales and 31 percent for GM's.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: At first, Ford in Germany and Ford in Britain built different models from one another until 1965, when the Ford Transit and later the Ford Escort and the Ford Capri became common to both companies. In 1970, the Ford Taunus and the Ford Cortina came into production with a common base construction, both models being produced in left hand drive and right hand drive. Later on, the models became identical and the respective models right- and left-hand-drive exclusively. Rationalisation of model ranges meant that production of many models in the UK switched to elsewhere in Europe, including Belgium and Spain as well as Germany. The Ford Sierra replaced the Taunus and Cortina in 1982, drawing criticism for its radical aerodynamic styling, which was soon given nicknames, the "Jellymould" and "The Salesman's Spaceship."


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In February 2002, Ford ended car production in the UK. It was the first time in 90 years that Ford cars had not been made in Britain, although production of the Transit van continued at the company's Southampton facility until mid-2013, engines at Bridgend and Dagenham, and transmissions at Halewood. Development of European Ford is broadly split between Dunton in Essex (powertrain, Fiesta/Ka, and commercial vehicles) and Cologne (body, chassis, electrical, Focus, Mondeo) in Germany. Ford also produced the Thames range of commercial vehicles, although the use of this brand name was discontinued with the introduction of the Ford Transit in 1965. Elsewhere in continental Europe, Ford assembles the Mondeo, Galaxy, S-Max and Kuga in Valencia (Spain), Fiesta in Cologne (Germany), Focus in Saarlouis (Germany), Ecosport and Puma in Craiova (Romania).


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford also owns a joint-venture production plant in Turkey. Ford Otosan, established in the 1970s, manufactures the Transit Connect compact panel van as well as the "Jumbo" and long-wheelbase versions of the full-size Transit. This new production facility was set up near Kocaeli in 2002, and its opening marked the end of Transit assembly in Genk.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Another joint venture plant near Setúbal in Portugal, set up in collaboration with Volkswagen, formerly assembled the Galaxy people-carrier as well as its sister ships, the VW Sharan and SEAT Alhambra. With the introduction of the third generation of the Galaxy, Ford has moved the production of the people-carrier to the Genk plant, with Volkswagen taking over sole ownership of the Setúbal facility.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 2008, Ford acquired a majority stake in Automobile Craiova, Romania. Starting 2009, the Ford Transit Connect was Ford's first model produced in Craiova, followed, in 2012, by low-capacity car engines and a new small class car, the B-Max.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Its 1959 Anglia two-door saloon was one of the most quirky-looking small family cars in Europe at the time of its launch, but buyers soon became accustomed to its looks and it was hugely popular with British buyers in particular. It was still selling well when replaced by the more practical Escort in 1967.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The third incarnation of the Ford Escort was launched in 1980 and marked the company's move from rear-wheel drive saloons to front-wheel drive hatchbacks in the small family car sector.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The fourth-generation Escort was produced from 1990 until 2000, although its successor – the Focus – had been on sale since 1998. On its launch, the Focus was arguably the most dramatic-looking and fine-handling small family cars on sale and sold in huge volumes right up to the launch of the next-generation Focus at the end of 2004.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The 1982 Ford Sierra – replacement for the long-running and massively popular Cortina and Taunus models – was a style-setter at the time of its launch. Its ultramodern aerodynamic design was a world away from a boxy, sharp-edged Cortina, and it was massively popular just about everywhere it was sold. A series of updates kept it looking relatively fresh until it was replaced by the front-wheel-drive Mondeo at the start of 1993.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The rise in popularity of small cars during the 1970s saw Ford enter the mini-car market in 1976 with its Fiesta hatchback. Most of its production was concentrated at Valencia in Spain, and the Fiesta sold in huge figures from the very start. An update in 1983 and the launch of an all-new model in 1989 strengthened its position in the small car market.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: On October 24, 2012, Ford announced that it would close its Genk assembly plant in eastern Belgium by the end of 2014.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 2015, Ford announced that it took control of Ford Sollers, Ford's joint venture with Russian company Sollers.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In September 2018, at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover, Germany, Ford introduced an electric tractor-trailer concept vehicle dubbed the F-Vision, which would have Level 4 autonomous driving capability.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: On March 1, 2022, Ford announced that it was suspending its Sollers joint venture operation in Russia, in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford formed its first passenger-vehicle joint venture in China in 2001, six years behind GM and more than a decade after VW. It has spent $4.9 billion to expand its lineup and double production capacity in China to 600,000 vehicles. This includes Ford's largest-ever factory complex in the southwestern city of Chongqing. Ford had 2.5% of the Chinese market in 2013, while VW controlled 14.5% and GM had 15.6%, according to consultant LMC Automotive. GM outsells Ford in China by more than six-to-one. Ford's presence in Asia has traditionally been much smaller, confined to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Taiwan, where Ford has had a joint venture with Lio Ho since the 1970s. Ford began assembly of cars in Thailand in 1960, but withdrew from the country in 1976, and did not return until 1995 when it formed a joint venture with Mazda called Auto Alliance. Now based in the Bo-win Sub District of the Sriracha District in Chonburi, the factory still produces passenger automobiles. The factory, built in 1941 in Singapore, was soon taken over by the Japanese during the war and was the site of a surrender of the British to the Japanese, at the factory site which is now a national monument in Singapore.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: On April 30, 2013, Ford Motor Co. launched their car and truck line in Myanmar. Previously, heavy importation taxes had stifled imported car purchases in Myanmar, but due to currency reform, lifting of previous import restrictions, and the abolishment of shadow currency, Myanmar's car market had grown in demand.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 1967, Ford partnered with the South Korean company Hyundai, and at the new factory in Ulsan, South Korea, built the European Ford Cortina until 1974 when Hyundai introduced their all-new Hyundai Pony in 1975. Ford then developed a relationship with Korea's oldest car manufacturer Kia which built vehicles co-engineered with Mazda, later selling the Ford Festiva from 1988 to 1993, and the Ford Aspire from 1994 to 1997 for export to the United States. With the acquisition of a stake in Japanese manufacturer Mazda in 1979, Ford began selling Mazda's Familia and Capella as the Ford Laser and Telstar throughout the region, replacing the European-sourced Escort and Cortina. From 1989 to 1996, Kia imported the Mercury Sable from Ford in the U.S. and sold them in South Korea as the Kia Sable. Though the Sable was branded and marketed as a Kia, it retained the Mercury badges and emblem. Ford lost their Kia interest to Hyundai in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis. Kia had declared bankruptcy in 1997; in 1998, Hyundai Motor Company acquired 51% of the company, outbidding Ford which had owned an interest in Kia Motors since 1986. After subsequent divestments, Hyundai Motor Company owns less than 50% of the company but remains Kia's largest stakeholder.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: , Ford sells the Explorer, Mondeo, and Mustang, as well as the Lincoln Aviator, Continental, Corsair, MKZ, and Nautilus in South Korea.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford India began production in 1998 at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, with its Ford Escort model, which was later replaced by the locally produced Ford Ikon in 2001. It has since added the Fusion, Fiesta, Mondeo and Endeavour models to its product line.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: On March 9, 2010, Ford launched its first made-for-India compact car. Starting at , the Figo was Ford's first car designed and priced for the mass Indian market. On July 28, 2011, Ford India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the State of Gujarat for the construction of an assembly and engine plant in Sanand and planned to invest approximately on a 460-acre site. In 2019, the company and Mahindra & Mahindra formed a joint venture to develop, market and distribute Ford-branded vehicles in India. In September 2021 Ford India announced plans to shut down both its assembly plants. The company said that it intends to maintain its parts and service network.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford's market presence in the Middle East has traditionally been small, partly due to previous Arab boycotts of companies dealing with Israel. Ford and Lincoln vehicles are currently marketed in ten countries in the region. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates are the biggest markets. Ford also established itself in Egypt in 1926 but faced an uphill battle during the 1950s due to the hostile nationalist business environment. Ford's distributor in Saudi Arabia announced in February 2003 that it had sold 100,000 Ford and Lincoln vehicles since commencing sales in November 1986. Half of the Ford and Lincoln vehicles sold in that country were Ford Crown Victorias. In 2004, Ford sold 30,000 units in the region, falling far short of General Motors' 88,852 units and Nissan Motors' 75,000 units.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In South America, Ford's primary operations are in Brazil, Argentina, and Ford Andina (Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela). Ford employs over 18,000 people and operates seven assembly or other plants in the region. In 1987, Ford Brasil and Ford Motor Argentina merged their operations with the Brazilian and Argentine operations of Volkswagen Group, forming a new joint-venture company called Autolatina with a shared model range. Autolatina was dissolved in 1995.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In early 2021, Ford's Brazil branch announced it would completely cease production in the country over the course of a few months.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In Africa, Ford's market presence has traditionally been strongest in South Africa and neighbouring countries, with only trucks being sold elsewhere on the continent. Ford in South Africa began by importing kits from Canada to be assembled at its facility in Port Elizabeth; the company later sourced its models from the UK and Australia, with local versions of the Ford Cortina including the XR6, with a 3.0 V6 engine, and a Cortina-based 'bakkie' or pick-up, which was exported to the UK. In the mid-1980s Ford merged with a rival company, owned by Anglo American, to form the South African Motor Corporation (Samcor).


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Following international condemnation of apartheid, Ford divested from South Africa in 1988, and sold its stake in Samcor, although it licensed the use of its brand name to the company. Samcor began to assemble Mazdas as well, which affected its product line-up and saw the European Fords like the Escort and Sierra replaced by the Mazda-based Laser and Telstar. Ford bought a 45 per cent stake in Samcor following the demise of apartheid in 1994, and this later became, once again, a wholly owned subsidiary, the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa. Ford now sells a local sedan version of the Fiesta (also built in India and Mexico), and the Focus. The Falcon model from Australia was also sold in South Africa, but was dropped in 2003; the Mondeo, after briefly being assembled locally, was dropped in 2005. The Mondeo was later reintroduced in 2015, badged as the Fusion, but was dropped in 2017.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford Research and Innovation Center is the name of the technology research facilities of Ford Motor Company in


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The Ford Research and Innovation Center in Palo Alto was first opened in 2012, and in January 2015, announced plans to significantly expand its operations.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford decided to shut down their entire operations in Indonesia, including their dealer network by second half of 2016.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford established a manufacturing facility in the port city of Yokohama in February 1925, where Model T vehicles were assembled using imported knock-down kits. The factory subsequently produced 10,000 Model A's up to 1936. Production ceased in 1940 as a result of political tensions between Japan and the United States.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: After World War II, Ford did not have a presence in Japan, as the Ford facility was appropriated by the Japanese Government until 1958 when property was returned as a possession of the Ford Motor Company and became a research and development location for Ford partner Mazda. In 1979, Ford acquired a 24.5% ownership stake in Mazda, and in 1982, Ford and Mazda jointly established a sales channel to sell Ford products in Japan, including vehicles manufactured in North America, at a dealership called " (Japanese)". The Autorama sales channel was renamed Ford Sales of Japan in 1997.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Vehicles sold at "Autorama" locations were the North American assembled Ford Explorer, Probe (1989–1998), Mustang, Taurus (1989–1997), Thunderbird (1990–1993), Lincoln Continental, and Lincoln LS. Ford products manufactured in Europe that were sold in Japan were the Ford Mondeo, Ka, Focus, Focus C-MAX, Fiesta, and the Galaxy. Mazda manufactured Ford vehicles in Japan and sold them as Fords at the Autorama locations. They were the Ford Telstar (Mazda Capella), Laser, Festiva, Festiva Mini Wagon, Ixion (Mazda Premacy), Freda (Mazda Bongo Friendee), Spectron (Mazda Bongo), and commercial trucks J80 and the J100 (Mazda Bongo truck).


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford increased its shareholding in Mazda to 33.4% in 1996, but , it is listed at 11%. Ford did sell a small range of vehicles in Japan; , the Ford Mustang, Escape, Explorer (and Explorer truck), Ford Kuga, Lincoln Navigator, Lincoln MKX, and more recently, the Ford Ecosport were available in Japan. , Ford no longer maintains a regional office in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and sales of new cars in Japan have ended.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In Australia and New Zealand, the popular Ford Falcon (1960–2016) had long been considered the average family car and is considerably larger than the Mondeo, Ford's largest car sold in Europe. Between 1960 and 1972, the Falcon was based on a U.S. model of the same name, but since then has been entirely designed and manufactured in Australia until 2016, occasionally being manufactured in New Zealand. Like its General Motors rival, the Holden Commodore, the Falcon used a rear-wheel-drive layout. High-performance variants of the Falcon running locally built engines produce up to . A ute (short for "utility", known in the US as pickup truck) version is also available with the same range of drivetrains. In addition, Ford Australia sold highly tuned limited-production Falcon sedans and utes through its performance car division, Ford Performance Vehicles until it closed in 2014.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In Australia, the Commodore and Falcon had traditionally outsold all other cars and constituted over 20% of the new car market. In New Zealand, Ford was second in market share in the first eight months of 2006 with 14.4%. More recently, Ford has axed its Falcon-based LWB variant of its lineup– the Fairlane and LTD ranges. Ford discontinued the Fairlane in 2007 and LTD in 2008. Ford had announced that their Geelong engine manufacturing plant would be shut down between 2013 and 2016. They had earlier announced local manufacturing of the Focus small car starting from 2011, but instead decided to import the model from Ford's plant in Thailand.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In Australia, the Laser was one of Ford Australia's most successful models and was manufactured in Ford's Homebush West plant from 1981 until the plant's closure in September 1994. It outsold the Mazda 323, despite being almost identical to it because the Laser was manufactured in Australia and Ford was perceived as a local brand. According to research carried out by Ford Australia in 1984, a third of Laser buyers were unaware that the Ford model was based on the Mazda 323.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In New Zealand, the Ford Laser and Telstar were assembled alongside the Mazda 323 and 626 until 1997, at the Vehicle Assemblers of New Zealand (VANZ) plant in Wiri, Auckland. The Sierra wagon was also assembled in New Zealand, owing to the popularity of station wagons in that market.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The scheduled closure of Ford's Australian manufacturing base in 2016 was confirmed on May 23, 2013. Headquartered in the Victorian suburb of Broadmeadows, the company had registered losses worth AU$600 million over the five years prior to the announcement. It was noted that the corporate fleet and government sales that account for two-thirds of large, local car sales in Australia are insufficient to keep Ford's products profitable and viable in Australia. The decision will affect 1200 Ford workers—over 600 employees in Geelong and more than 500 in Broadmeadows—who will lose their jobs by October 2016. The closure of Ford's plants in Norlane Geelong and Broadmeadows Melbourne occurred on October 7, 2016.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford Motor Company sells a broad range of automobiles under the Ford marque worldwide, and an additional range of luxury automobiles under the Lincoln marque in the United States. The company has sold vehicles under a number of other marques during its history. The Mercury brand was introduced by Ford in 1939, continuing in production until 2011 when poor sales led to its discontinuation. In 1958, Ford introduced the Edsel brand, but poor sales led to its discontinuation in 1960. In 1985, the Merkur brand was introduced in the United States to market products produced by Ford of Europe; it was discontinued in 1989.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford acquired the British sports car maker Aston Martin in 1989, later selling it on March 12, 2007, although retaining an 8% stake. Ford purchased Volvo Cars of Sweden in 1999, selling it to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2010.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In November 2008, it reduced its 33.4% controlling interest in Mazda of Japan to a 13.4% non-controlling interest. On November 18, 2010, Ford reduced their stake further to just 3%, citing the reduction of ownership would allow greater flexibility to pursue growth in emerging markets. Ford and Mazda remain strategic partners through exchanges of technological information and joint ventures, including an American joint venture plant in Flat Rock, Michigan called Auto Alliance. In 2015, Ford sold its remaining 3% stake in Mazda.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford sold the United Kingdom-based Jaguar and Land Rover companies and brands to Tata Motors of India in March 2008.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: On April 25, 2018, Ford announced that it planned to phase out all but one of its North American automobile models (the Mustang will be the sole surviving model) to focus primarily on trucks and SUVs. Ford had also planned to introduce an "Active" crossover version of the next-generation Focus, but canceled those plans due to tariff issues between the United States and China.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford has produced trucks since 1908, beginning with the Ford Model TT, followed by the Model AA, and the Model BB. Countries where Ford commercial vehicles are or were formerly produced include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada (also badged as Mercury), France, Germany, India, Netherlands, Philippines, Spain (badged Ebro too), Turkey, UK (badged also Fordson and Thames), and the United States.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: From the 1940s to the late 1970s, Ford's Ford F-Series was used as the base for light trucks for the North American market.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Most of these ventures are now extinct. The European one that lasted longest was the lorries arm of Ford of Britain, which became part of the Iveco group in 1986. Ford had a minority share in the new company and Iveco took over sales and production of the Ford Cargo range. Ford's last significant European truck models were the Transcontinental and the Cargo. At the end of 1996, Ford sold the rights to its heavy trucks division to the Freightliner Trucks division of Daimler AG, with Ford producing the Cargo, Louisville, and Aeromax, through the 1998 model year. During the 1998 model year, Freightliner began production of its own versions of Ford-developed trucks in St. Thomas, Ontario, launching the Sterling truck brand. Slotted between Freightliner and Western Star, Sterling trucks were produced through 2009.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: For 1999, Ford briefly withdrew from production of medium-duty trucks. For the 2001 model year, the company entered into a joint venture with Navistar International (the supplier of diesel engines for 1-ton F-Series trucks), named "Blue Diamond Truck Company LLC". As part of the joint venture, sharing a common truck chassis, the two companies would produce medium-duty (Class 6–7) trucks in a Navistar facility in Mexico, with each manufacturer supplying its own powertrain and bodywork, with the Ford F-650/F-750 Super Duty and International 4000/DuraStar sharing an assembly line. In 2006, the joint venture debuted the Ford LCF/International CityStar. Using a modified F-Series chassis adopted to fit a Mazda Titan cab, the LCF was a low-cab forward truck that was sold through 2009.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In Europe, Ford manufactures the Ford Transit jumbo van, which is classed as a Large Goods Vehicle and has a payload of up to 2,265 kg; there are options of a panel van, pickup or chassis cab. The Ford Transit is also available as a light van called the Ford Transit Connect and the Ford Ranger pickup is available.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford manufactured complete buses in the company's early history, but today the role of the company has changed to that of a second stage manufacturer. In North America, the E-Series is still used as a chassis for small school buses and the F-650 is used in commercial bus markets. In the 1980s and 1990s, the medium-duty B700 was a popular chassis used by school bus body manufacturers including Thomas Built, Ward, and Blue Bird, but Ford lost its market share due to industry contraction and agreements between body manufacturers. Older bus models included:


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 1936, Ford introduced the Ford Transit Bus, a series of small transit buses with bodies built by a second party. Originally a front-engine design, it was modified to a rear-engine design in 1939. About 1,000 to 1,200 of the original design were built, and around 12,500 of the rear-engine design, which was in production until 1947 (rebranded as the Universal Bus in 1946).


title: Ford Motor Company

text: After 1946 the Transit City bus was sold as the "Universal Bus" with the roof changed from fabric/wood to all-metal:


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Following World War II and from the 1950s onwards, Ford lost out to General Motors. This led to the end of transit buses for Ford in North America.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In Europe, Ford manufactures the Ford Transit Minibus which is classed in Europe as a Passenger Carrying Vehicle and there are options of 12-, 15-, or 17-seaters. In the past, European models included:


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The "Henry Ford and Son Company" began making Fordson tractors in Henry's hometown of Springwells (later part of Dearborn), Michigan, from 1907 to 1928, from 1919 to 1932, at Cork, Ireland, and between 1933 and 1964 at Dagenham, England, later transferred to Basildon. They were also produced in Leningrad beginning in 1924.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford reentered the tractor market in 1939 with the Ford N-series tractors. The Ford 8N, introduced in 1947, became the most popular tractor of all time in North America. Production of the N line of models ended in 1952.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The Ford NAA tractor was introduced as an entirely new model in 1953. It was a replacement for the Ford N-Series tractors. Larger than the 8N, with a four-cylinder engine, and streamlined styling.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 1986, Ford expanded its tractor business when it purchased the Sperry-New Holland skid-steer loader and hay baler, hay tools and implement company from Sperry Corporation and formed Ford-New Holland which bought out Versatile tractors in 1988. This company was bought by Fiat in 1993 and the name changed from Ford New Holland to New Holland. New Holland is now part of CNH Global.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford's "FoMoCo" parts division sells aftermarket parts under the Motorcraft brand name. It has spun off its parts division under the name Visteon.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Along with Shelby and Chevrolet, Ford is one of only three American constructors to win titles on the international scene at the FIA World Championships. As a constructor, Ford won the World Sportscar Championship three times in 1966, 1967, and 1968, and the World Rally Championship three times in 1979, 2006 and 2007.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: IndyCars with Ford engines first competed in 1935 using a production-based Ford V8 in the Miller-Ford racer. A pushrod Ford V8 raced with Lotus in 1963, and Ford's first Indy win was in 1965 with a DOHC V8. Ford motors, including the Ford-sponsored DFX engine developed by Cosworth, have won the Indianapolis 500 eighteen times. On May 12, 1996, Arie Luyendyk, while driving an IndyCar powered by a Ford Cosworth XB engine, broke the Indianapolis 500 records for fastest qualification lap () and fastest qualification four-lap average (). These speed records still stand .


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Formula Ford, conceived in the UK in 1966, is an entry-level type of formula racing with wingless single-seater cars. Many of today's formula racing drivers started their car racing careers in this category.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford was heavily involved in Formula One for many years and supplied engines to a large number of teams from 1967 until 2004. These engines were designed and manufactured by Cosworth, the racing division that was owned by Ford from 1998 to 2004. Ford-badged engines won 176 Grands Prix between 1967 and 2003 for teams such as Team Lotus and McLaren. Ford entered Formula One as a constructor in 2000 under the Jaguar Racing name, after buying the Stewart Grand Prix team which had been its primary 'works' team in the series since 1997. Jaguar achieved little success in Formula One, and after a turbulent five seasons, Ford withdrew from the category after the 2004 season, selling both Jaguar Racing (which became Red Bull Racing) and Cosworth (to Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven).


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford is one of three manufacturers in NASCAR's three major series: the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series. Major teams include RFK Racing, Team Penske, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Wood Brothers Racing. Ford is represented by the Mustang GT in the Cup Series, and the Xfinity Series and by the F-150 in the Truck Series. Some of the most successful NASCAR Fords were the aerodynamic fastback Ford Torino, Ford Torino Talladega, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, and Mercury Montegos, and the aero-era Ford Thunderbirds. The Ford nameplate has won eight manufacturer's championships in Sprint Cup while Mercury has won one. In the Sprint Cup Series, Ford earned its 1,000th victory in the 2013 Quicken Loans 400. The Ford Fusion is also used in the ARCA Racing Series. Ford had last won a drivers' championship in the Cup Series with Joey Logano in 2022.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford has a long history in rallying and has been active in the World Rally Championship since the beginning of the world championship, the 1973 season. Ford took the 1979 manufacturers' title with Hannu Mikkola, Björn Waldegård, and Ari Vatanen driving the Ford Escort RS1800. In the Group B era, Ford achieved success with Ford RS200. Since the 1999 season, Ford has used various versions of the Ford Focus WRC to much success. In the 2006 season, BP-Ford World Rally Team secured Ford its second manufacturers' title, with the Focus RS WRC 06 built by M-Sport and driven by "Flying Finns" Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen. Continuing with Grönholm and Hirvonen, Ford successfully defended the manufacturers' world championship in the 2007 season. Ford is the only manufacturer to score in the points for 92 consecutive races; since the 2002 season opener Monte Carlo Rally.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford has competed in rallycross with its Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus. Tanner Foust won the Global RallyCross Championship in 2011 and 2012 and was runner-up in the FIA European Rallycross Championship in 2011 and 2012. Toomas Heikkinen won the Global RallyCross Championship title in 2013 and Joni Wiman won it in 2014. Other notable Ford drivers include Marcus Grönholm, Ken Block, and Brian Deegan.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford sports cars have been visible in the world of sports car racing since 1964. Most notably the GT40 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times in the 1960s and is the only American car to ever win overall at this prestigious event. Ford also won the 1968 International Championship for Makes with the GT40. Swiss team Matech GT Racing, in collaboration with Ford Racing, opened a new chapter with the Ford GT, winning the Teams title in the 2008 FIA GT3 European Championship.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The Ford Mustang has arguably been Ford's most successful sports car. Jerry Titus won the 1965 SCCA Pro B National Championship with a Mustang and the model went on to earn Ford the SCCA Trans-Am Championship title in both 1966 and 1967. Ford won the Trans-Am Championship again in 1970 with Parnelli Jones and George Follmer driving Boss 302 Mustangs for Bud Moore Engineering. Ford took the 1985 and 1986 IMSA GTO Championship with Mustangs driven by John Jones and Scott Pruett before returning to Trans-Am glory with a championship in 1989 with Dorsey Schroeder. Ford dominated Trans-Am in the 1990s with Tommy Kendall winning championships in 1993, 1995, 1996, and 1997 with Paul Gentilozzi adding yet another title in 1999. In 2005 the Ford Mustang FR500C took the championship in the Rolex Koni Challenge Series in its first year on the circuit. In 2007, Ford added a victory in the GT4 European Championship. 2008 was the first year of the Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup, a series that pits a full field of identical factory-built Ford Mustang race cars against each other. Also, in 2008, Ford won the manufacturers championship in the Koni Challenge Series and HyperSport drivers Joe Foster and Steve Maxwell won the drivers title in a Mustang GT.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford and Michelin teamed up to provide custom-engineered tires for the Ford Performance vehicle lineup. Ford Performance director Dave Pericak said: "That confidence extends from our upcoming racing effort at Le Mans in 2016 with the all-new Ford GT, to the Ford Performance vehicle lineup, including the Shelby GT350 and F-150 Raptor".


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford has campaigned touring cars such as the Focus, Falcon, and Contour/Mondeo and the Sierra Cosworth in many different series throughout the years. Notably, Mondeo drivers finished 1,2,3 in the 2000 British Touring Car Championship and Falcon drivers placed 1,2,3 in the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In drag racing, John Force Racing drivers John Force, Tony Pedregon, and Robert Hight have piloted Ford Mustang Funny Cars to several NHRA titles in recent seasons. Teammates Tim Wilkerson and Bob Tasca III also drive Mustangs in Funny Car.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford has branched out into drifting with the introduction of the new model Mustang. Most noticeable is the Turquoise and Blue Falken Tires Mustang driven by Vaughn Gittin, Jr., (A.K.A. "JR") that produces 750 RWHP (Rear Wheel Horsepower).


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The alternative fossil fuel vehicles, such as some versions of the Crown Victoria especially in fleet and taxi service, operate on compressed natural gas—or CNG. Some CNG vehicles have dual fuel tanks – one for gasoline, the other for CNG – the same engine can operate on either fuel via a selector switch.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Flexible fuel vehicles are designed to operate smoothly using a wide range of available ethanol fuel mixtures—from pure gasoline to bioethanol-gasoline blends such as E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) or E100 (neat hydrous ethanol) in Brazil. Part of the challenge of successful marketing alternative and flexible fuel vehicles in the U.S. is the general lack of establishment of sufficient fueling stations, which would be essential for these vehicles to be attractive to a wide range of consumers. Significant efforts to ramp up production and distribution of E85 fuels are underway and expanding. Current Ford E100 Flex sold in the Brazilian market are the Courier, Ford EcoSport, Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, and Ford Ka.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 2004, Ford and Toyota agreed a patent-sharing accord that granted Ford access to certain hybrid technology patented by Toyota; in exchange, Ford licensed some of its own patents to Toyota. In 2004, Ford introduced the Escape Hybrid. With this vehicle, Ford was third to the automotive market with a hybrid electric vehicle and the first hybrid electric SUV to market. This was also the first hybrid electric vehicle with a flexible fuel capability to run on E85. The Escape's platform mate Mercury Mariner was also available with the hybrid-electric system in the 2006 model year—a full year ahead of schedule. The similar Mazda Tribute will also receive a hybrid-electric powertrain option, along with many other vehicles in the Ford vehicle line.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 2005, Ford announced a goal to make 250,000 hybrids a year by 2010, but by mid-2006 announced that it would not meet that goal, due to excessively high costs and the lack of sufficient supplies of the hybrid-electric batteries and drivetrain system components. Instead, Ford has committed to accelerating development of next-generation hybrid-electric power plants in Britain, in collaboration with Volvo. This engineering study is expected to yield more than 100 new hybrid-electric vehicle models and derivatives.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In September 2007, Ford announced a partnership with Southern California Edison (SCE) to examine how plug-in hybrids will work with the electrical grid. Under the multimillion-dollar, multi-year project, Ford will convert a demonstration fleet of Ford Escape Hybrids into plug-in hybrids, and SCE will evaluate how the vehicles might interact with the home and the utility's electrical grid. Some of the vehicles will be evaluated "in typical customer settings", according to Ford.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: On June 12, 2008, USDOE expanded its own fleet of alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles with the addition of a Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid Flex-Fuel Vehicle. The vehicle is equipped with a lithium-ion battery supplied by Johnson Controls-Saft that stores enough electric energy to drive up to at speeds of up to . In March 2009, Ford launched hybrid versions of the Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Mercury Milan Hybrid in the United States, both as 2010 models.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: , Ford has produced for retail sales the following hybrid electric vehicles: Ford Escape Hybrid (2004–2012), Mercury Mariner Hybrid (2005–2010), Mercury Milan Hybrid (2009–2010), Ford Fusion Hybrid (2009–present), Lincoln MKZ Hybrid (2010–present), Ford C-Max Hybrid (2012–present), and Ford Mondeo Hybrid (2014–present). By June 2012, Ford had sold 200,000 full hybrids in the US since 2004, and, , the carmaker has sold over 344 thousand hybrids in the United States. The top selling hybrids in the U.S. market are the Fusion Hybrid with 127,572 units, followed by Escape Hybrid with 117,997 units, and the C-Max Hybrid with 54,236. , Ford is the world's second-largest manufacturer of hybrids after Toyota Motor Corporation, with 400,000 hybrid electric vehicles produced since their introduction in 2004.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: , Ford has produced the following plug-in electric vehicles: the all-electric Ford Ranger EV (1997–2002), Ford TH!NK (1999–2003), Transit Connect (2010–2012), and Ford Focus Electric (December 2011–present); and the plug-in hybrids C-MAX Energi (October 2012–present) and the Fusion Energi (February 2013–present), sold under the Mondeo nameplate in Europe. Since the launch of the Focus Electric in 2011, combined sales of all Ford plug-in electric models amounted to just over 56,000 through October 2015.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Bill Ford was one of the first top industry executives to make regular use of a battery electric vehicle, a Ford Ranger EV, while the company contracted with the United States Postal Service to deliver electric postal vans based on the Ranger EV platform. Ford discontinued a line of electric Ranger pickup trucks and ordered them destroyed, though it reversed in January 2005, after environmentalist protest. The all-electric pickup truck leased 205 units to individuals and 1,500 units to fleets in the U.S. from 1998 to 2002.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: From 2009 to 2011, Ford offered the Ford TH!NK car. Ford ended production and ordered all the cars repossessed and destroyed, even as many of the people leasing them begged to be able to buy the cars from Ford. After an outcry from the lessees and activists in the US and Norway, Ford returned the cars to Norway for sale. 440 units were leased in the U.S. from 1999 until 2003.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 2017, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced that the company would invest $4.5 billion in further development of plug-in electric vehicles by 2020.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The Azure Transit Connect Electric was an all-electric van developed as a collaboration between Azure Dynamics and Ford Motor Company, but Azure was the official manufacturer of record. The Transit Connect Electric had an official US Environmental Protection Agency all-electric range of . The EPA rated the combined city/highway fuel economy at 62 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent ( equivalent). Deliveries for fleet customers in the U.S. and Canada began in December 2010. Production of the electric van was stopped in March 2012 as a result of Azure's bankruptcy protection filing. Ford continues to provide servicing. Around 500 units were sold before Azure stopped production.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The Ford Focus Electric is based on the next generation Focus internal combustion vehicle, converted to an all-electric propulsion system as a production electric car by Magna International, and retail sales began in the U.S. in December 2011. The Focus Electric has an EPA rated range of and a combined city/highway fuel economy of 105 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (). Available also in Canada and several European countries, 3,965 units have been sold in the U.S. through September 2014.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The Ford C-Max Energi is a plug-in hybrid released in the U.S. in October 2012. The C-Max Energi has an EPA rated all-electric range of and a combined city/highway fuel economy in all-electric mode at 88 MPG-e (). U.S. sales totaled 33,509 units


title: Ford Motor Company

text: through December 2016. Deliveries of the Ford Fusion Energi began in the United States in February 2013. The Fusion Energi has an all-electric range of and an equivalent fuel economy EPA rating of 88 MPG-e (). , a total of 43,327 units have been delivered in the U.S. since its inception.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Both Energi models share the same powertrain technology and have the same EPA combined city/highway fuel economy in hybrid operation of .


title: Ford Motor Company

text: When asked about a battery-electric vehicle with a range, Fields said in April 2016 "Clearly that's something we're developing for". Ford has a pending trademark application on the "Model E" name, preventing the Tesla Model 3 in using the name.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In October 2017, Ford announced its Team Edison battery-electric vehicle group to lead the company's renewed efforts into the EV market, in which it currently offers only the Focus subcompact and has plans for a small 300-mile SUV by 2020. The new team will be headquartered in Detroit and have offices in Europe and Asia.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 2022, Ford began manufacturing its E-Transit electric cargo vans at its plant in Kansas City, Missouri. The first deliveries of the new vehicles are expected in the next few weeks.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford also continues to study fuel cell-powered electric powertrains and has demonstrated hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine technologies, as well as developing the next-generation hybrid-electric systems. Compared with conventional vehicles, hybrid vehicles and/or fuel cell vehicles decrease air pollution emissions as well as sound levels, with favorable impacts upon respiratory health and decrease of noise health effects.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford has launched the production of hydrogen-powered shuttle buses, using hydrogen instead of gasoline in a standard internal combustion engine, for use at airports and convention centers. At the 2006 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show, Ford showcased a hydrogen fuel cell version of its Explorer SUV. The Fuel cell Explorer has a combined output of . It has a large hydrogen storage tank which is situated in the center of the car taking the original place of the conventional model's automatic transmission. The centered position of the tank assists the vehicle reach a notable range of , the farthest for a fuel cell vehicle so far. The fuel cell Explorer the first in a series of prototypes partly funded by the United States Department of Energy to expand efforts to determine the feasibility of hydrogen-powered vehicles. The fuel cell Explorer is one of several vehicles with green technology being featured at the L.A. show, including the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid, PZEV emissions compliant Fusion and Focus models and a 2008 Ford F-Series Super Duty outfitted with Ford's clean diesel technology.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In July 2008, Ford Motor Company announced that it would accelerate its plans to produce more fuel-efficient cars, changing both its North American manufacturing plans and its lineup of vehicles available in the United States. In terms of North American manufacturing, the company planned to convert three existing truck and sport utility vehicle (SUV) plants for small car production, with the first conversion at its Michigan Truck Plant. In addition, Ford's assembly plants near Mexico City, Mexico, and in Louisville, Kentucky, were to be converted from pickups and SUVs to small cars, including the Ford Fiesta, by 2011. Ford then also planned to introduce to North America six of its European small vehicles, including two versions of the Ford Fiesta, by the end of 2012.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford of Europe developed the ECOnetic programme to address the market and legislative need for higher fuel efficiency and lower emissions. As opposed to the hybrid engine technology used in competitor products such as the Toyota Prius, ECOnetic improves existing technology. Using lower consuming Duratorq TDCi diesel engines, and based on a combination of improved aerodynamics, lower resistance, and improved efficiency, the Ford Fiesta was the lowest emitting mass-produced car in Europe while the 2012 Ford Focus ECOnetic will have better fuel consumption than the Prius or the Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion. ECOnetic is not presently planned to be sold in North American due to current perceived lower consumer demand.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford has challenged University teams to create a vehicle that is simple, durable, lightweight, and come equipped with a base target price of only $7,000. The students from Aachen University created the "2015 Ford Model T".


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 2000, under the leadership of the current Ford chairman, William Clay Ford, the company announced a planned 25 percent improvement in the average mileage of its SUVs – to be completed by the 2005 calendar year. In 2003, Ford announced that competitive market conditions and technological and cost challenges would prevent the company from achieving this goal.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: For the 2007 model year, Ford had thirteen U.S. models that achieve 30 miles per gallon or better (based on the highway fuel economy estimates of the EPA) and several of Ford's vehicles were recognized in the EPA and Department of Energy Fuel Economy Guide for best-in-class fuel economy. Ford claimed to have eliminated nearly three million pounds of smog-forming emissions from their U.S. cars and light trucks over the 2004 to 2006 model years. However, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has linked Ford to 54 Superfund toxic waste sites, twelve of which have been cleaned up and deleted from the list.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: As part of a renovation of the Ford River Rouge Complex, in 2010 Ford unveiled a 10.4 acre (4047 m) living roof covering part of the Dearborn Truck plant, consisting of sedum, a low-growing groundcover. The sedum retains and cleanses rainwater and moderates the internal temperature of the building, saving energy.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: In 2016, Ford announced a ten-year renovation plan for its Dearborn campus. The plan features consolidation of office and lab spaces in to fewer and much larger buildings, which will be built to LEED standards, and will feature extensive use of wetlands and park spaces. The new campus features new multi-story parking decks with solar power generating roofs, and a new natural gas power plant. The DTE Ford Central Energy Plant is a 34MW combined heat-and-power plant which features a high efficiency design and LEED Gold buildings.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: Ford sponsors numerous events and sports facilities around the US, most notably the Ford Center in downtown Evansville, Indiana, and Ford Field in downtown Detroit.


title: Ford Motor Company

text: The company has also been a major sponsor of the UEFA Champions League for over two decades, and is also a longtime sponsor of the Sky media channel's coverage of Premier League football.


title: Human penis

text: The human penis is an external male intromittent organ that additionally serves as the urinary duct. The main parts are the root (radix); the body (corpus); and the epithelium of the penis including the shaft skin and the foreskin (prepuce) covering the glans penis. The body of the penis is made up of three columns of tissue: two corpora cavernosa on the dorsal side and corpus spongiosum between them on the ventral side. The human male urethra passes through the prostate gland, where it is joined by the ejaculatory duct, and then through the penis. The urethra traverses the corpus spongiosum, and its opening, the meatus (), lies on the tip of the glans penis. It is a passage both for urination and ejaculation of semen ("see" male reproductive system.)


title: Human penis

text: Most of the penis develops from the same embryonic tissue as the clitoris in females. The skin around the penis and the urethra share the same embryonic origin as the labia minora in females. An erection is the stiffening expansion and orthogonal reorientation of the penis, which occurs during sexual arousal. Erections can occur in non-sexual situations; spontaneous non-sexual erections frequently occur during adolescence and sleep. In its flaccid state the penis is smaller, gives to pressure, and the glans is covered by the foreskin. In its fully erect state the corpus becomes rigid and the glans becomes engorged but not rigid. An erect penis may be straight or curved and may point at an upward angle, a downward angle, or straight ahead. , the average erect human penis is 13.12 cm (5.17 inches) long and has a circumference of 11.66 cm (4.59 inches). Neither age nor size of the flaccid penis accurately predicts erectile length.


title: Human penis

text: The human penis is made up of three columns of tissue: two corpora cavernosa lie next to each other on the dorsal side and one corpus spongiosum lies between them on the ventral side.


title: Human penis

text: The corpus cavernosum forms most of the penis and contains blood vessels that fill with blood to help make an erection.


title: Human penis

text: The crus of penis is the proximal parts of the corpora cavernosum. The corpus spongiosum is an erectile tissue surrounding the urethra. The proximal parts of the corpus spongiosum form the bulb of penis and the distal ends form the glans penis.


title: Human penis

text: The enlarged and bulbous-shaped end of the corpus spongiosum forms the glans penis with two specific types of sinusoids, which supports the foreskin, or prepuce, a loose fold of skin that in adults can retract to expose the glans. The area on the underside of the penis, where the foreskin is attached, is called the frenum, or frenulum. The rounded base of the glans is called the corona. The perineal raphe is the noticeable line along the underside of the penis.


title: Human penis

text: The urethra, which is the last part of the urinary tract, traverses the corpus spongiosum, and its opening, known as the meatus , lies on the tip of the glans penis. It is a passage both for urine and for the ejaculation of semen. Sperm are produced in the testes and stored in the attached epididymis. During ejaculation, sperm are propelled up the vas deferens, two ducts that pass over and behind the bladder. Fluids are added by the seminal vesicles and the vas deferens turns into the ejaculatory ducts, which join the urethra inside the prostate gland. The prostate as well as the bulbourethral glands add further secretions, and the semen is expelled through the penis.


title: Human penis

text: The raphe is the visible ridge between the lateral halves of the penis, found on the ventral or underside of the penis, running from the meatus (opening of the urethra) across the scrotum to the perineum (area between scrotum and anus).


title: Human penis

text: The human penis differs from those of most other mammals, as it has no baculum (or erectile bone) and instead relies entirely on engorgement with blood to reach its erect state. A distal ligament buttresses the glans penis and plays an integral role to the penile fibroskeleton, and the structure is called "os analog," a term coined by Geng Long Hsu in the Encyclopedia of Reproduction. It is a remnant of baculum evolved likely due to change in mating practice.


title: Human penis

text: The human penis cannot be withdrawn into the groin, and it is larger than average in the animal kingdom in proportion to body mass. The human penis is reciprocating from a cotton soft to a bony rigidity resulting from penile arterial flow varied between 2–3 to 60-80 mL/Min implies the most ideal milieu to apply Pascal's law in the entire human body; the overall structure is unique.


title: Human penis

text: Penile measurements vary, with studies that rely on self-measurement reporting a significantly higher average size than those which rely on measurements taken by health professional. A 2015 systematic review of 15,521 men in which the subjects were measured by health professionals concluded that the average length of an erect human penis is 13.12 cm (5.17 inches) long, while the average circumference of an erect human penis is 11.66 cm (4.59 inches).


title: Human penis

text: Among all primates, the human penis is the largest in girth, but is comparable to the chimpanzee penis and the penises of certain other primates in length. Penis size is affected by genetics, but also by environmental factors such as fertility medications and chemical/pollution exposure. The longest officially documented human penis was found by physician Robert Latou Dickinson. It was long and in circumference.


title: Human penis

text: In the developing fetus, the genital tubercle develops into the glans of the penis in males and into the clitoral glans in females; they are homologous. The urogenital fold develops into the skin around the shaft of the penis and the urethra in males and into the labia minora in females. The corpora cavernosa are homologous to the body of the clitoris; the corpus spongiosum is homologous to the vestibular bulbs beneath the labia minora; the scrotum, homologous to the labia majora; and the foreskin, homologous to the clitoral hood. The raphe does not exist in females, because there, the two halves are not connected.


title: Human penis

text: On entering puberty, the penis, scrotum and testicles will enlarge toward maturity. During the process, pubic hair grows above and around the penis. A large-scale study assessing penis size in thousands of 17- to 19-year-old males found no difference in average penis size between 17-year-olds and 19-year-olds. From this, it can be concluded that penile growth is typically complete not later than age 17, and possibly earlier.


title: Human penis

text: In males the expulsion of urine from the body is done through the penis. The urethra drains the bladder through the prostate gland where it is joined by the ejaculatory duct, and then onward to the penis. At the root of the penis (the proximal end of the corpus spongiosum) lies the external sphincter muscle. This is a small sphincter of striated muscle tissue and is in healthy males under voluntary control. Relaxing the urethra sphincter allows the urine in the upper urethra to enter the penis properly and thus empty the urinary bladder.


title: Human penis

text: Physiologically, urination involves coordination between the central, autonomic, and somatic nervous systems. In infants, some elderly individuals, and those with neurological injury, urination may occur as an involuntary reflex. Brain centers that regulate urination include the pontine micturition center, periaqueductal gray, and the cerebral cortex. During erection, these centers block the relaxation of the sphincter muscles, so as to act as a physiological separation of the excretory and reproductive function of the penis, and preventing urine from entering the upper portion of the urethra during ejaculation.


title: Human penis

text: The distal section of the urethra allows a human male to direct the stream of urine by holding the penis. This flexibility allows the male to choose the posture in which to urinate. In cultures where more than a minimum of clothing is worn, the penis allows the male to urinate while standing without removing much of the clothing. It is customary for some boys and men to urinate in seated or crouched positions. The preferred position may be influenced by cultural or religious beliefs. Research on the medical superiority of either position exists, but the data are heterogenic. A meta-analysis summarizing the evidence found no superior position for young, healthy males. For elderly males with LUTS, however, the sitting position when compared to the standing position is differentiated by the following:


title: Human penis

text: This urodynamic profile is related to a lower risk of urologic complications, such as cystitis and bladder stones.


title: Human penis

text: An erection is the stiffening and rising of the penis, which occurs during sexual arousal, though it can also happen in non-sexual situations. Spontaneous erections frequently occur during adolescence due to friction with clothing, a full bladder or large intestine, hormone fluctuations, nervousness, and undressing in a nonsexual situation. It is also normal for erections to occur during sleep and upon waking. (See nocturnal penile tumescence.) The primary physiological mechanism that brings about erection is the autonomic dilation of arteries supplying blood to the penis, which allows more blood to fill the three spongy erectile tissue chambers in the penis, causing it to lengthen and stiffen. The now-engorged erectile tissue presses against and constricts the veins that carry blood away from the penis. More blood enters than leaves the penis until an equilibrium is reached where an equal volume of blood flows into the dilated arteries and out of the constricted veins; a constant erectile size is achieved at this equilibrium. The scrotum will usually tighten during erection.


title: Human penis

text: Erection facilitates sexual intercourse though it is not essential for various other sexual activities.


title: Human penis

text: Although many erect penises point upwards (see illustration), it is common and normal for the erect penis to point nearly vertically upwards or nearly vertically downwards or even horizontally straight forward, all depending on the tension of the suspensory ligament that holds it in position.


title: Human penis

text: The following table shows how common various erection angles are for a standing male, out of a sample of 81 males aged 21 through 67. In the table, zero degrees is pointing straight up against the abdomen, 90 degrees is horizontal and pointing straight forward, while 180 degrees would be pointing straight down to the feet. An upward pointing angle is most common.


title: Human penis

text: Ejaculation is the ejection of semen from the penis. It is usually accompanied by orgasm. A series of muscular contractions delivers semen, containing male gametes known as sperm cells or spermatozoa, from the penis. Ejaculation usually happens as the result of sexual stimulation, but it can be due to prostatic disease in rare cases. Ejaculation may occur spontaneously during sleep (known as a nocturnal emission or wet dream). Anejaculation is the condition of being unable to ejaculate.


title: Human penis

text: Ejaculation has two phases: emission and ejaculation proper. The emission phase of the ejaculatory reflex is under control of the sympathetic nervous system, while the ejaculatory phase is under control of a spinal reflex at the level of the spinal nerves S2–4 via the pudendal nerve. A refractory period succeeds the ejaculation, and sexual stimulation precedes it.


title: Human penis

text: The human penis has been argued to have several evolutionary adaptations. The purpose of these adaptations is to maximise reproductive success and minimise sperm competition. Sperm competition is where the sperm of two males simultaneously resides within the reproductive tract of a female and they compete to fertilise the egg. If sperm competition results in the rival male's sperm fertilising the egg, cuckoldry could occur. This is the process whereby males unwittingly invest their resources into offspring of another male and, evolutionarily speaking, should be avoided.


title: Human penis

text: The most researched human penis adaptations are testis and penis size, ejaculate adjustment and semen displacement.


title: Human penis

text: Evolution has caused sexually selected adaptations to occur in penis and testis size in order to maximise reproductive success and minimise sperm competition.


title: Human penis

text: Sperm competition has caused the human penis to evolve in length and size for sperm retention and displacement. To achieve this, the penis must be of sufficient length to reach any rival sperm and to maximally fill the vagina. In order to ensure that the female retains the male's sperm, the adaptations in length of the human penis have occurred so that the ejaculate is placed close to the female cervix. This is achieved when complete penetration occurs and the penis pushes against the cervix. These adaptations have occurred in order to release and retain sperm to the highest point of the vaginal tract. As a result, this adaptation also leaves the sperm less vulnerable to sperm displacement and semen loss. Another reason for this adaptation is that, due to the nature of the human posture, gravity creates vulnerability for semen loss. Therefore, a long penis, which places the ejaculate deep in the vaginal tract, could reduce the loss of semen.