Bill Pierre Ford

While recent times haven’t been rosy for Ford here in the States, business is much better for the Dearborn, MI automaker overseas. To keep blue skies in foreign markets, Ford is ponying up $209 million in South Africa for both a new truck plant and diesel engine plant that will produce the replacement for the automaker’s overseas-only Thailand-sourced Ranger. Neither the truck nor its diesel engine will reach our shores, but both will be available in many markets abroad. Part of the big investment will cover training existing employees, and eventually adding 500 valuable jobs by 2011.

It’s good to see that Ford is committed to investing money in markets where growth is happening. In fact, happy go lucky CEO Allen Mulally went so far to say that he expects Ford will one day achieve two thirds of its global sales outside our proud borders.

Ford Motor Co. is developing a high-tech insert for crash-test dummies that is similar in size and shape to a six-year-old’s abdomen, aiming to improve tests for children’s vehicle safety.

The prototype is part of an effort to make pediatric crash dummies and tests more realistic.

The hope is they’ll lead to better vehicle restraints for children, the Dearborn-based automaker said in a statement.

Partners in the collaboration include Wayne State University in Detroit, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Takata Corp., which makes automotive safety systems.

Crash tests mainly focus on head and chest injuries, according to Steve Rouhana, a technical leader in Ford’s crash dummy testing.

“We really didn’t have the technology before to accurately measure abdominal response,” he said.

The silicone prototype features sensors that measure the severity of injuries sustained by the dummies during crash tests.