DEARBORN, MI – Ford Motor Company will build all Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury retail cars and trucks with standard electronic stability control (ESC) by the end of 2009. ESC is currently standard on all Ford mid- and full-size SUVs, and standard ESC will be expanded to small SUVs and all SUVs in 2007.

Congress is expected to mandate the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to institute a new law early next year that would require all vehicles to come standard with stability-control systems. A recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study indicates ESC systems can reduce single vehicle crashes by more than 40 percent and fatal accidents by 56 percent.

Ford Motor Company currently has 4 million vehicles on the road with ESC systems. More than 1 million of those vehicles feature Ford’s AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control, which has two gyroscopic effect sensors to measure vehicle motion.

AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control is standard equipment on most 2007-model-year Ford Motor Company SUVs and crossovers, including, Explorer and Expedition, Sport Trac, Lincoln Navigator, Mercury Mountaineer, Volvo XC90, Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX, and on most E-350 passenger Wagons. AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control will be added standard to the 2008-model-year Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner. ESC will be added standard to the 2008-model-year Ford Freestyle.