Ford is not only helping you reduce your own carbon footprint with its fleet of hybrid vehicles, such as the Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV or Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan Hybrid sedan, the company also taking a hard look how it can reduce the greenhouse gases it produces by 30 percent from the company’s 2006 model year baseline.

2010 Ford Escape Hybrid

Now, Ford is taking its commitment to green one step further by working with its 35 top global suppliers to gain a better understanding of their greenhouse gas emissions and trying to help them reduce their carbon footprint.

“Suppliers play an important role as we look to reduce our overall carbon footprint and drive more efficiency in an energy constrained world,” said Tony Brown, Ford group vice president, Global Purchasing. “This initiative builds on our leadership in collaborating with suppliers and gives them a way to participate in solving an issue that faces our entire industry.”

Suppliers participating in this initiative include those making car components such as seats, steering systems, and tires.

While many of the suppliers are already measuring and trying to shrink their carbon footprints, Ford aims to foster collaboration among its suppliers to share best practices and process improvements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet any future government regulations.

Ford and its suppliers plan to share data and feedback with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), two leading organizations in helping businesses, governments, and other organizations develop methods for measuring and reporting corporate greenhouse gas emissions.

For more about Ford’s initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint inside its walls and throughout its global supply chain, read the company’s “Blueprint for Sustainability”:  http://ford.com/go/sustainability.

Shop for a new “green” car, including those from Ford Motor Company.

Other Ford News:

• Ford Custom Graphics
• Ford to Discontinue Mercury Brand
• New Graduate Car Discount Programs
• Ford is Top Automaker in Vehicle Satisfaction Awards

The 2010 Hyundai Tucson is one of the latest vehicles to be named a 
“Top Safety Pick” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has announced new rollover test results that earned the following car models the Institute’s Top Safety Pick award:

• Audi A4 and Q5.
• Ford Flex and Fusion (including twins Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ).
• Hyundai Tucson.
• Lincoln MKT.
• Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen.

Each vehicle earned the Institute’s highest rating of “good” for roof strength in rollover crashes. Good-rated vehicles have roofs that can withstand a force equal to at least four times the vehicle’s weight, which is higher than the federal standard of 1.5 times weight.

According the IIHS website, the Top Safety Pick recognizes the vehicles that earn the highest rating of “good” for front, side, rollover, and rear crash protection, and that have electronic stability control, which is standard on all of these models. Top Safety Pick award winners must also achieve a "good" rating in high-speed front and side crash tests, as well as in evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts.

Note: For Ford models, this award only applies to Flex models built after January 2010, Fusions built after April 2010, and MKTs built after March 2010.

See a full list of Top Safety Pick award winners on the IIHS website.

Shop for an award-winning car on CarLocate.com

In the wake of Ford Motor Company’s announcement this week that production of new Mercury cars will end in 2010, The Boston Globe has put together a salute to the six U.S. car brands that have been phased out in the past decade.

Those brands include Mercury, Hummer, Pontiac, Saturn, Isuzu, and Oldsmobile.

View the slideshow.

Ford has lowered the mast on the
Mariner and other Mercury vehicles.