Ford CEO: We're Not In As Much Trouble As GM And Chrysler

It's not quite guilt by association, but it's close. Ford, by virtue of being one of the Big 3 and because its finances are weakened, has been lumped in with General Motors and Chrysler as an auto maker needing a bailout. Somewhere in Dearborn, Michigan Ford CEO Alan Mulally is doing a slow burn.

Mulally will tell you, Congress, and his employees that Ford is NOT in the same leaky boat as GM and Chrysler. In fact, when Mulally talks about Ford requesting federal aid he calls it a low interest line of credit, not a bailout. While I don't agree with everything Mulally says (they are in the same boat), I can see exactly why he feels the way he does.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[munki]

Please... fix the problem than...
comparing apple to apple or to orange?

[Bohmsie]

Um, that's not saying much.

[ObamaSheeple]

It is good to know they are not in any trouble like GM or anti-Chrysler. Then it is settled. We all agree. No bailout for Ford. I am glad we had this conversation.

[proudem]

OMG...Mulally's arrogance is amazing. And the attitude of "We're bad but not as bad as them," is unbelievable...simply unbelievable.

[Viper]

If any one of the BIG 3 goes.. then thats a hit that takes out the very weak parts suppliers they all buy from and so they all get hit hard and go down..

Pls note NISSAN and HONDA are now admitting they feel the pinch and pulling out of Auto shows as GM did.. The Europe MFGs will be getting more now than the 40 billion they first requested from the government.. Japan always has given its automakers interest free loans and paid for their research along with a protected market to work from where they charge twice as much for the same car as here while never showing a profit here..

Our MFG base since 1980 has gone from 32% of our GDP down to below 10%. The Big 3 and their parts suppliers our half of whats left of our MFG base. Lose them and its burger flippin as the career choice.


Regards

[whispurr]

Your prognostication speaks volumes and equals the same woe-is-me attitude that continues to promote a lack of forward thinking, not just by the Detroit automakers but the many people whose work is associated with the industry ... based on your assumption that if the Big 3 fail, everyone will be flipping burgers. Just as GM, Ford and Chrysler should do, anyone whose work is related to these companies can and should take charge of their future, quit whining and get to work to learn something new and do something different, not including the give-up mentality of flipping burgers. If you know the company you're working for still insists on building 8-tracks when everyone else is making high-tech iPods, wake up and quit crying that unless the universe continues to invest in 8-tracks, you're life is doomed and everyone should feel sorry for you.

[Leslib]

Oh, and Bristol Palin was just a little bit pregnant...she was not quite as pregnant as all the other unwed mothers out there. Hurrumph

[knerd]

Basically he is saying that Ford may not be in as much trouble.
Actually Ford is in a lot of trouble because
1..America is in trouble, and
2. Ford is an American company.

What are the Big Three willing to do and what are US citizens willing to do? And what prevents us from doing it?

[Puzes]

not as much trouble because they have european autos that are ok .. but, not able to sell them here in the us ...WHY?

[Viper]

GMs turns a profit in Europe also. The difference is in large part healthcare. They dont have healthcare costs in Europe.

Regards

[KillTheMessenger]

Wrong. They have far higher healthcare costs in Europe. They just don't whine about it.

[jsarets]

Lost in all the discussion of gross mismanagement, short-sighted product development, and burdensome pension obligations -- all of which are major factors -- lies the reason why GM and Chrysler are on the brink of insolvency while the rest of the auto industry, including Ford, are merely taking manageable losses in this extremely adverse economic climate: GMAC.

The auto lender associated with GM is actually co-owned with Cerberus Capital Management, Chrysler's new parent company. They weren't content to stick to their bread-and-butter business of auto loans. Not when other financial institutions were making a killing in the home mortgage market. So GMAC became another Bear Stearns or Merrill Lynch, and the same virus that's taking down the financial industry is pulling GM and Chrysler toward bankruptcy.

Industrial giants don't just spontaneously implode when things get tough. As an automaker, GM could limp along -- in all its progress-averse glory -- without worrying about imminent failure. When huge institutions suddenly go boom, there's got to be structured finance involved. Nothing else can bring a Goliath like GM to its knees in such dramatic fashion, and that's why the other automakers are bloodied but by no means beaten.

Ford will survive in the short to medium term because they didn't follow other American industrials like GM and GE into the structured finance business, and the foreign makers will survive because their governments don't let their heavy industries behave like investment banks -- and rightfully so!

[Viper]

Its nolonger manageable for any automakers. Toyota has run up lots of debt on its books selling product here and elsewhere at no profit to gain market share.

NISSAN and HONDA are pulling out of auto shows just like GM. NISSAN and MASDA almost went under sveral years ago, but Japan does give interest free loans, pays for healthcare and for research and development and provides a protected home base market place as do all other countries for their auto MFGs... even Europe limits Aisian imports to under 20% market share.

Europeans MFGs are requesting now 100 billion in aid as is the president of Nissan.

Regards

[KillTheMessenger]

Toyota's last quarter was profitable. Little appreciated fact that just won't fit into your GOPlediGOP theories.

Cheers.

[whispurr]

Nissan and Honda made a big showing at the LA Auto Show and previously in Paris. No announcements have been made yet for NAIAS.

[joebaggadonuts]

In Minnesota I heard it put this way: I don't have to run faster than the bear, I just have to outrun you.

[marijam]

I heard on NPR today that Ford is going to bring over its European models. That's very welcome to hear. My husband says he heard that Ford has a 5 speed manual with a four cylinder diesel that gets 40+ miles per gallon. We had a Ranger before we bought our Nissan Frontier and are looking for a diesel with good mileage for our next small truck.

[ObamaSheeple]

That is nothing new. The first car I bought at 16 was a 1980 VW rabbit diesel that gave me 48 mpg. 28 years later, (that should be the title to a new horror movie about cars) they still can't improve on mileage with a diesel engine, a small car, and a 5 speed?

That was a really rough, vibrating car. I bet they made some improvements there.

[KillTheMessenger]

48mpg diesel is, at best, equivalent to 44 mpg gasoline. It's an apples and oranges comparison.

"28 years later, (that should be the title to a new horror movie about cars) they still can't improve on mileage with a diesel engine, a small car, and a 5 speed?"

Sure they can. You get the same mpg from a hybrid today that's way larger and way more comfortable. So, based on a fair comparison of cars of equal size and quality, it's way better. But you are comparing tiny cars of the past with mid-size cars of the present. And there is just no comparison.

[Plank]

This is the guy who got $20 Million bonus last year, when Ford was laying off engineers by the thousands.

[OB-GYN]

This is the guy who refused to publically consider a token bonus ($1 dollar) THIS year, when grilled at Congressional testimony last week. Look at his face. Does he look honest to you?