T o have a strong business, we need to establish  and retain competitiveness in the ways we build  our products. For us, that means the ability to  assemble exactly the products that our customers  want, in the regions where they want them, and  at a cost that allows us to compete profitably. In established markets such as Europe, North  America and Japan, we are making the technological  investment to stay in the forefront of flexible  manufacturing. Flexible manufacturing allows us to  produce a number of different vehicles in a single  location. It enables us to add a vehicle line or change  over to a new model by reprogramming, rather than  retooling, the vast majority of the machinery involved.  In North America, eight of our plants are operating  as or on their way to becoming flexible manufacturing  facilities. In Europe, our Valencia Assembly Plant in  Spain will join our Cologne and Saarlouis locations  in Germany as fully flexible facilities. Our Premier  Automotive Group is on target to attain 80 percent  flexibility by the end of  2010. In addition, Mazda  operations are among the  most flexible in the world. And to maintain a  presence and competitive  pricing, it is likely that  Ford and its suppliers will  gradually increase their  production in those  parts of the world where  markets are emerging. Doing that while  maintaining our economic presence in established  markets requires careful, strategic thinking. But  we believe it’s both possible and necessary if we  are to realize our vision of being the best. Robots weld the roofs of the new Volvo S40 and Volvo  V50 at the Volvo Cars plant in Ghent, Belgium, where  5,300 employees work to ensure high vehicle quality. F R O N T MANUFACTURING 1 3