The Women Behind Ford

By Sean Stillmaker in Miscellaneous on Aug 29, 2010 4:00PM

When it comes to car manufacturing it’s a common assumption that it’s a man’s world. But behind the new Ford Explorer was a design team of four female engineers. One of their contributions was the MyFord Touch. The voice recognition system allows drivers to customize GPS instructions, set climate controls and perform most radio functions. Their goal of the Explorer program is to redefine what a SUV is. One of the engineers is a mother of two who drives 50 miles each way to work. During the commute she was able to focus on things to improve upon. Julie Levine told the Sun times, “I didn’t want to drive an ostentatious gas guzzler. I call the new Explorer a ‘smart’ SUV, not just a sport SUV.”

The Explorer is being built at Ford's South Side plant that brought in 1,200 new jobs. It’s expected that more than 100 companies in 23 states will produce parts for the SUV. Since the Great Recession, Ford has been the leader amongst the American car companies gaining record profits and garnering praise from not needing a bailout.