Airbags are credited with saving tens of thousands of lives since first being introduced more than 35 years ago*. They also are a key consideration for the designers who incorporate them into the cars we drive.
The all-new Ford Mustang is the first vehicle equipped with a new kind of knee airbag that is integrated within the door of the glove box, instead of the instrument panel, so passengers get maximum room to stretch out. Rather than a textile fabric airbag, the technology consists of an innovative moulded plastic design, sandwiched between the outer and inner glove box door surfaces.
Just 46 centimetres long and 28 centimetres wide, the glove box airbag weighs 65 per cent less than a conventional knee airbag and yet offers comparable protection. In the event of a collision, a tiny gas generator inside the glove box door inflates the bladder in just 20 milliseconds, pushing the door exterior outwards to provide leg protection. Weight reduction improves fuel efficiency and the innovation has so far been granted 23 patents.
“This is a new way of thinking about airbags. We went back to the drawing board and in the course of a year went through hundreds of prototypes to get it just right,” said Ford restraints manager Sean West. “It was worth it. With this design we were able to combine the functions of two separate parts into one single part to save on space, weight and components; and move the instrument panel further forward, ensuring there was more room for the front passenger.”
“Our glove box airbag opens up a whole new world of possibilities for injection-moulded plastic airbags. The glove box airbag could be just the beginning,” West added.
Altogether the all-new Ford Mustang is equipped with eight airbags as standard and has been awarded the highest-possible safety standard by North American authorities. Available as a fastback and convertible, the iconic American car is on sale across Europe for the first time in more than 50 years of production.
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* National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that as of 2012, 42,856 lives have been saved by frontal airbags
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 195,000 employees and 66 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.
is responsible for producing, selling and servicing Ford brand vehicles in 50 individual markets and employs approximately 53,000 employees at its wholly owned facilities and approximately 67,000 people when joint ventures and unconsolidated businesses are included. In addition to Ford Motor Credit Company, Ford Europe operations include Ford Customer Service Division and 23 manufacturing facilities (15 wholly owned or consolidated joint venture facilities and 8 unconsolidated joint venture facilities). The first Ford cars were shipped to Europe in 1903 – the same year Ford Motor Company was founded. European production started in 1911.
