Item 2. Properties.

Our principal properties include manufacturing and assembly facilities, distribution centers, warehouses, sales or administrative offices, and testing, prototype, and operations space.

We own substantially all of our U.S. manufacturing and assembly facilities. Our facilities are situated in various sections of the country and include assembly plants, engine plants, casting plants, metal stamping plants, transmission plants, and other component plants. Most of our distribution centers are leased (we own approximately 32% of the total square footage and lease the balance). The majority of the warehouses that we operate are leased, although many of our manufacturing and assembly facilities contain some warehousing space. Substantially all of our sales offices are leased space. Approximately 85% of the total square footage of our testing, prototype, and operations space is owned by us.

In addition, we maintain and operate manufacturing plants, assembly facilities, parts distribution centers, and engineering centers outside of the United States. We own substantially all of our non-U.S. manufacturing plants, assembly facilities, and engineering centers. The majority of our parts distribution centers outside of the United States are either leased or provided by vendors under service contracts.

We and the entities that we consolidated as of December 31, 2023 use over 300 operations facilities globally, including testing and prototype, across 24 countries, and 41 manufacturing and assembly plants, which includes plants that are operated by us or our consolidated joint venture that support our Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro segments.

We have one significant consolidated joint venture, which is in our Ford Blue segment:

*•*Ford Vietnam Limited — a joint venture between Ford (75% partner) and Diesel Song Cong One Member Limited Liability Company (a subsidiary of the Vietnam Engine and Agricultural Machinery Corporation, which in turn is majority owned (87.43%) by the State of Vietnam represented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade) (25% partner). Ford Vietnam Limited assembles and distributes a variety of Ford passenger and commercial vehicle models. The joint venture operates one plant in Vietnam.

In addition to the plants that we operate directly or that are operated by our consolidated joint venture, additional plants that support our Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro segments are operated by unconsolidated joint ventures of which we are a partner. The most significant of those unconsolidated joint ventures are as follows:

*•*AutoAlliance (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (“AAT”) — a 50/50 joint venture between Ford and Mazda that owns and operates a manufacturing plant in Rayong, Thailand. AAT produces Ford and Mazda products for domestic and export sales.

• BlueOval SK, LLC — a 50/50 joint venture among Ford, SK On Co., Ltd., and SK Battery America, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of SK On) that will build and operate electric vehicle battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky to supply batteries to Ford and Ford affiliates.

• Changan Ford Automobile Corporation, Ltd. (“CAF”) — a 50/50 joint venture between Ford and Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. (“Changan”). CAF operates four assembly plants, an engine plant, and a transmission plant in China where it produces and distributes a variety of Ford passenger vehicle models.

• Ford Otomotiv Sanayi Anonim Sirketi (“Ford Otosan”) — a joint venture in Türkiye among Ford (41% partner), the Koc Group of Türkiye (41% partner), and public investors (18%) that is the sole supplier to us of the Transit, Transit Custom, and Transit Courier commercial vehicles and the Puma for Europe and the sole distributor of Ford vehicles in Türkiye. Ford Otosan also manufactures Ford heavy trucks for markets in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The joint venture owns three plants, a parts distribution depot, and a research and development center in Türkiye, and a combined vehicle and engine plant in Romania.

*•*JMC — a publicly-traded company in China with Ford (32% shareholder) and Nanchang Jiangling Investment Co., Ltd. (41% shareholder) as its controlling shareholders. Nanchang Jiangling Investment Co., Ltd. is a 50/50 joint venture between Changan and Jiangling Motors Company Group. The public investors in JMC own 27% of its total outstanding shares. JMC assembles Ford Transit, a series of Ford SUVs, Ford engines, and non-Ford vehicles and engines for distribution in China and in other export markets. JMC operates two assembly plants and one engine plant in Nanchang.

Item 2. Properties (Continued)

The facilities described above are, in the opinion of management, suitable and adequate for the manufacture and assembly of our and our joint ventures’ products.

The furniture, equipment, and other physical property owned by our Ford Credit operations are not material in relation to the operations’ total assets.

ITEM 3. Legal Proceedings.

The litigation process is subject to many uncertainties, and the outcome of individual matters is not predictable with assurance. See Note 25 of the Notes to the Financial Statements for a discussion of loss contingencies. Following is a discussion of our significant pending legal proceedings:

PRODUCT LIABILITY MATTERS

We are a defendant in numerous actions in state and federal courts within and outside of the United States alleging damages from injuries resulting from (or aggravated by) alleged defects in our vehicles. In many actions, no monetary amount of damages is specified or the specific amount alleged is the jurisdictional minimum. Our experience with litigation alleging a specific amount of damages suggests that such amounts, on average, bear little relation to the actual amount of damages, if any, that we will pay in resolving such matters.

In addition to pending actions, we assess the likelihood of incidents that likely have occurred but not yet been reported to us. We also take into consideration specific matters that have been raised as claims but have not yet proceeded to litigation. Individual product liability matters that have more than a remote risk of loss and such loss would likely be significant if the matter is resolved unfavorably to us would be described herein. Currently there are no such matters to report.

Below is a product liability matter currently pending against Ford:

Hill v. Ford. Plaintiffs in this product liability action pending in Georgia state court allege that the roof of a 2002 Ford F-250 involved in a rollover accident was defectively designed. During the first trial in 2018, the judge declared a mistrial, ruled that Ford’s attorneys had violated pre-trial rulings while presenting evidence, and sanctioned Ford by prohibiting Ford from introducing any evidence at the second trial to show that the roof design of the F-250 was not defective. During the second trial in August 2022, a jury found that Pep Boys (the party that sold the tires on the vehicle involved in the rollover accident) was responsible for 30% of the damages, and Ford, as a direct result of the sanctions order prohibiting Ford from presenting its defense, was responsible for 70% of the damages, resulting in $16.8 million in damages being apportioned to Ford. The jury subsequently awarded punitive damages against Ford in the amount of $1.7 billion. We filed post-trial motions seeking a new trial, and on September 14, 2023, the trial court denied our post-trial motions. On October 13, 2023, Ford filed a notice of appeal with the Georgia Court of Appeals. We believe the law supports our position that Ford is entitled to a new trial with the right to present evidence in its defense.

ASBESTOS MATTERS

Asbestos was used in some brakes, clutches, and other automotive components from the early 1900s. Along with other vehicle manufacturers, we have been the target of asbestos litigation and, as a result, are a defendant in various actions for injuries claimed to have resulted from alleged exposure to Ford parts and other products containing asbestos. Plaintiffs in these personal injury cases allege various health problems as a result of asbestos exposure, either from component parts found in older vehicles, insulation or other asbestos products in our facilities, or asbestos aboard our former maritime fleet. We believe that we are targeted more aggressively in asbestos suits because many previously targeted companies have filed for bankruptcy or emerged from bankruptcy relieved of liability for such claims.

Most of the asbestos litigation we face involves individuals who claim to have worked on the brakes of our vehicles. We are prepared to defend these cases and believe that the scientific evidence confirms our long-standing position that there is no increased risk of asbestos-related disease as a result of exposure to the type of asbestos formerly used in the brakes on our vehicles. The extent of our financial exposure to asbestos litigation remains very difficult to estimate and could include both compensatory and punitive damage awards. The majority of our asbestos cases do not specify a dollar amount for damages; in many of the other cases the dollar amount specified is the jurisdictional minimum, and the vast majority of these cases involve multiple defendants. Some of these cases may also involve multiple plaintiffs, and we may be unable to tell from the pleadings which plaintiffs are making claims against us (as opposed to other defendants). Annual payout and defense costs may become significant in the future. Our accrual for asbestos matters includes probable losses for both asserted and unasserted claims.