Ford Pledges Major Assets in Financing November 29, 2006
Ford mortgaged nearly all its domestic assets to raise $18 billion to pay for several more years of restructuring. DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 27 – Executives at the Ford Motor Company have insisted they are willing to bet the company’s future on a turnaround plan put in place earlier this year. On Monday, they essentially did just that, mortgaging nearly all of Ford’s domestic assets – its plants, office buildings, patents and trademarks – along with stakes in Ford Credit and Volvo, to raise $18 billion.Ford will use the money, which includes cash and an expanded line of credit, to cover …
Ford Will Delay Reporting of Its 3rd-Quarter Results November 17, 2006
The Ford Motor Company said it needed several more days to finish restating previous years’ earnings. DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 9 – For the second time this year, a Detroit automaker will be late filing an earnings report with the Securities and Exchange Commission because of accounting errors. The Ford Motor Company said Thursday that it needed several more days to finish restating previous years’ earnings, the first time in recent memory that the automaker has sought an extension for a quarterly filing. Ford said on Oct. 23, when it reported a preliminary third-quarter loss of $5.8 billion, that it would …
Ford Interest in Alliance Apparently Has Waned October 6, 2006
With the hiring of a new chief executive, Ford is said to believe it can resolve its financial crisis without any outside help. DETROIT, Oct. 5 — Timing is everything, and Carlos Ghosn, who heads the automakers Nissan and Renault, may have missed his chance to fashion a global alliance. Mr. Ghosn has made it clear he wants a North American partner. But after negotiations with General Motors fell apart Wednesday, the only other logical candidate to join an alliance with Mr. Ghosn, the Ford Motor Company, is no longer eager to bring him aboard.Ford’s chairman, William Clay Ford Jr., …
Ford Offering 75,000 Employees Buyout Packages September 15, 2006
The U.A.W. agreed on a program to offer buyouts of up to $140,000 each to all of Ford?s hourly workers in the U.S. DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 14 ? The Ford Motor Company agreed Thursday to offer buyouts and other incentives worth as much as $140,000 each to its 75,000 hourly workers in the United States to persuade them to leave their jobs. The deal with the United Automobile Workers comes after a similar offer at General Motors earlier this year that was accepted by nearly a third of its union workers. It is also the latest sign that Detroit …
Ford Brings in Outsider to Help Run the Company September 6, 2006
William Clay Ford Jr. took the highly unusual step, for Detroit, of turning to an executive with no auto industry experience. DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 5 ? William Clay Ford Jr., great-grandson of the founder of the Ford Motor Company, brought in an outsider Tuesday to help run the company, in a tacit acknowledgment that he needs a new approach in his efforts to turn around the struggling automaker. Mr. Ford took the highly unusual step, for Detroit, of turning to an executive with no experience in the auto industry. He gave up the titles of chief executive and president to …
Ford Updates Union Leaders August 30, 2006
Union leaders received an update on Ford?s condition Tuesday, but said they were not told about any specific steps the company planned to take. DETROIT, Aug. 29 ? Local union leaders at the Ford Motor Company received an update on the struggling company?s condition Tuesday, but said they were not told about any specific steps the company planned to take. The United Automobile Workers president, Ron Gettelfinger, and Bob King, the union?s lead negotiator with Ford, met with members of the union?s Ford Council for about four hours. The group is made up of local union presidents and …
Motoring: Unraveling the Mystery of Ford?s Fire-Prone Switches August 27, 2006
Investigators installed damaged cruise control switches in Ford vehicles and then waited for them to cause fire. The result was a phenomenon never seen before. JUST two inches long, the Texas Instruments Model 9F924 speed control deactivation switch does not look like a menacing device. But a sporadic malfunction in the switch that sparked engine fires stumped engineers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for two years. The $20 switch, which shuts off the cruise control when a driver taps the brakes, became the subject of one of the most exhaustive and complex investigations in the agency?s history. …
Ford Sets Steep Cuts to Vehicle Production August 18, 2006
The company blamed its steepest cut in more than two decades on ?an unprecedented spike in gasoline prices.? DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 18 ? The Ford Motor Company said today that it would cut vehicle production by 21 percent in the fourth quarter, its steepest cut in more than two decades, because sales of its most important products, light trucks, are faltering. Ford said it was abandoning its goal, reiterated as recently as April, of selling 900,000 pickup trucks a year in the United States. That could mean that the reign of Ford?s F-series pickup truck as the best-selling vehicle …
Around the Block: A Look at an Overlooked Hybrid July 30, 2006
Arguably, one of the best things the Ford Escape Hybrid has going for it is the name recognition. That may also be its big drawback. TESTED: 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid WHAT IS IT? Compact sport utility wagon with a hybrid gas-electric powertrain.HOW MUCH? Base price $26,215. As tested, $32,120 with $1,605 all-wheel drive, $1,995 navigation and upgraded sound system, $180 AC power outlet, $585 power sunroof, $695 appearance package, $595 safety package, $595 leather group.WHAT DRIVES IT? A 2.3-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine plus a 70-kilowatt electric motor; continuously variable transmission.HOW THIRSTY? Rated 36 m.p.g. in town, 31 on the highway …
A Ratings Service Downgrades Ford Debt June 9, 2006
Fitch Ratings downgraded the long-term debt of Ford and its financing arm further into junk status. DETROIT, June 8 (AP) ? Fitch Ratings downgraded the long-term debt of Ford and its financing arm further into junk status on Thursday, citing a “sparse product pipeline” and a restructuring plan that it said would be slow to have an effect. The announcement sent Ford’s stock to a 52-week low, down 18 cents, or 2.65 percent, to $6.61. Fitch lowered Ford’s default rating to B+ from BB and its senior unsecured debt rating to BB? from BB.It also assigned a recovery rating of …
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