Ford introduced methods for large- scale manufacturing of cars and large- scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences characterized by moving assembly lines ; by 1914 these methods were known around the world as Fordism . Former UK subsidiaries of Ford Jaguar and Land Rover, acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively , were sold to Tata Motors in March 2008 . The Ford owned Swedish automaker Volvo 1999-2010. [4 ] In 2011 , Ford stopped the Mercury brand, which was the market entry-level luxury cars in the United States, Canada , Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938 .
Ford is the second largest US- based automaker and the fifth largest in the world based on vehicle sales in 2010 . [5 ] At the end of 2010 , Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe . [6 ] Ford is the eighth ranked overall American -based company in the 2010 Fortune 500 list , based on global revenues in 2009 of 118.3 billion dollars. [7 ] In 2008 , Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles [8 ] and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants and facilities worldwide .