Ford burns $12.7 BILLION in 2006!
Ford just announced its full year financial results for 2006, and the picture is really ugly. From October through the end of the year alone, it consumed $5.8 billion. For the full year it expended $12.7 billion more than it took in. Last year was one of the worst years in Ford's history, with two major stabs at a restructuring plan, CEO Bill Ford stepping down, borrowing more than $25 billion to fund operations and announcements about closing 16 factories and eliminating more than 44,000 jobs. Although the numbers look terrible for Ford, $9.9 billion of it was for one-time charges associated with buyouts, plant closures and other restructuring costs. Losses from operations were a "mere" $2.8 billion. Another nasty figure is the revenue, down to $160.1 billion from $176.9 billion the year before. The team in Dearborn is feeling some major pain from the crash in sales of their cash cow SUVs like the Explorer and Expedition. The full Ford press release is after the jump.
[Source: Ford]
PRESS RELEASE:
FORD MOTOR COMPANY REPORTS 2006 FOURTH-QUARTER AND FULL-YEAR RESULTS*
- Full-year net loss of $12.7 billion, or $6.79 per share. Fourth-quarter net loss of $5.8 billion, or $3.05 per share.
- Full-year after-tax loss from continuing operations of $2.8 billion, or $1.50 per share, excluding special items. Fourth-quarter after-tax loss from continuing operations of $2.1 billion, or $1.10 per share, excluding special items.**
- Europe and South America were profitable for the full year, both improving on a year-over-year basis. North America, Premier Automotive Group and Asia Pacific and Africa reported full-year losses.
- Financial Services, including Ford Motor Credit, earned a pre-tax full-year profit of more than $1.9 billion.
- Automotive liquidity of $46 billion at year-end 2006 including credit facilities.
DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 25, 2007 – Ford Motor Company [NYSE: F] today reported a 2006 full-year net loss of $12.7 billion, or $6.79 per share. In 2005, the company reported net income of $1.4 billion, or 77 cents per share.
Excluding special items, Ford's 2006 full-year after-tax loss from continuing operations totaled $2.8 billion, or $1.50 per share. This compares to year-ago earnings from continuing operations of $1.9 billion, or $1.00 per share, excluding special items.**
Special items, which primarily reflected costs associated with restructuring efforts and fixed asset impairments, reduced full-year results on an after-tax basis by a total of $9.9 billion or $5.29 per share. The total pre-tax effect of full-year special items was $11.9 billion.
Full-year sales and revenue for 2006 was $160.1 billion, compared to $176.9 billion a year ago.
* The financial results discussed herein are presented on a preliminary basis; final data will be included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2006 (Form 10-K Report).
**See table following "Safe Harbor/Risk Factors" for the nature and amount of these special items and a reconciliation to U.S. GAAP.
FULL-YEAR HIGHLIGHTS
Ford Motor Company highlights in 2006 included:
- Alan Mulally joining Ford as president and CEO in September.
- An "accelerated" Way Forward plan to return North America to profitability no later than 2009 that calls for idling and ceasing operations at 16 manufacturing facilities through 2012, including seven vehicle assembly plants. The plan also calls for achieving a cumulative $5 billion in reduced operating costs by 2008, compared to 2005, and for 70 percent of Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury products by volume to be new or significantly upgraded by 2008.
- The idling of St. Louis Assembly in March and Atlanta Assembly in October, consistent with the North America restructuring plan.
- An agreement with the UAW to extend a variety of voluntary buyout offers to all U.S. Ford and Automotive Component Holdings, LLC (ACH) hourly employees. Through Dec. 31, 2006, more than 38,000 hourly employees had accepted offers. Many of the offers include an employee's opportunity to rescind acceptance up until the time of separation from the company. In addition, the company realized cost savings from the implementation of its health care agreement with the UAW.
- Efforts to reduce North America salaried-related costs by a third, which will reduce the salaried work force by the equivalent of 14,000 positions. In addition, we implemented cost-saving revisions to salaried benefit plans.
- Agreement in principle to sell three facilities now operated by ACH. Ford intends to sell or close all ACH facilities by the end of 2008.
- Plans to sell Automobile Protection Corporation (APCO), a subsidiary that offers vehicle service contracts to dealers of all makes and models, and all or part of Aston Martin.
- Launching new products that received strong initial feedback, including the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator in North America, the Ford S-MAX, Ford Galaxy and Ford Transit in Europe, the Jaguar XK, Land Rover LR2, Volvo S80 and C30 and Mazda CX9.
- Ford S-MAX being named European Car of the Year 2007 and Ford Transit receiving International Van of the Year 2007. Ford also won the 2006 FIA World Rally Championship Manufacturers' Trophy.
- Record sales in China and India.
- A corporate realignment in December that streamlined the organization and formed a Global Product Development team, to better integrate and leverage global resources across the automotive business units.
- Obtaining $23.5 billion of new liquidity in December, including a convertible debt offering of about $5 billion, a secured term loan of $7 billion and a secured revolving credit facility of $11.5 billion. This resulted in total automotive liquidity of $46 billion at year-end 2006.
"We began aggressive actions in 2006 to restructure our automotive business so we can operate profitably at lower volumes and with a product mix that better reflects consumer demand for smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles," said Alan Mulally, Ford's president and chief executive officer. "We fully recognize our business reality and are dealing with it. We have a plan and we are on track to deliver."
FOURTH QUARTER
In the fourth quarter, the company reported a net loss of $5.8 billion, or $3.05 per share. This compares to a fourth-quarter net loss of $74 million, or 4 cents per share, in 2005. Excluding special items, the fourth-quarter after-tax loss from continuing operations totaled $2.1 billion, or $1.10 per share, compared to a profit of $285 million, or 15 cents per share, a year ago.*
Special items in the quarter included the costs associated with North America restructuring efforts. On an after-tax basis, special items reduced fourth-quarter earnings by a total of $3.7 billion or $1.95 per share. The total pre-tax effect of fourth-quarter special items was $3.8 billion. (See appendix at the end of this press release for a detailed explanation of special items and other charges during the period.)
Total sales and revenue in the fourth quarter were $40.3 billion, compared to $46.3 billion in the year-ago period.
The following discussion of the preliminary pre-tax results of our Automotive sector and Financial Services sector, by segment or business unit, is on a basis that excludes special items. See table following "Safe Harbor/Risk Factors" for the nature and amount of these special items and a reconciliation to U.S. GAAP.
AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR
For the full year, Ford's worldwide Automotive sector reported a pre-tax loss of $5.2 billion, compared to a pre-tax loss of $993 million a year ago. The decline primarily reflected unfavorable volume and mix, unfavorable net pricing and currency exchange, partially offset by favorable cost performance and higher interest income.
For the fourth quarter, Ford's worldwide Automotive sector reported a pre-tax loss of $2.5 billion, compared to a pre-tax loss of $109 million a year earlier. The decline primarily reflected adverse volume and mix and higher incentives in North America.
Worldwide Automotive revenue for 2006 was $143.3 billion, compared to $153.5 billion a year ago. Total fourth-quarter Automotive revenue was $36 billion, a decrease from $40.7 billion a year ago.
*See table following "Safe Harbor/Risk Factors" for the nature and amount of these special items and a reconciliation to U.S. GAAP.
Total company vehicle wholesales in 2006 were 6,597,000, a decrease from 6,767,000 in 2005. Fourth-quarter vehicle wholesales totaled 1,568,000, compared to 1,737,000 units a year ago.
Automotive cash at Dec. 31, 2006, totaled $33.9 billion of cash, net marketable securities, loaned securities and short-term Voluntary Employee Benefits Association (VEBA) assets.
North America : For 2006, Ford's North America Automotive operations reported a pre-tax loss of $6.1 billion, compared to a loss of $1.5 billion in 2005. The increased losses primarily reflected unfavorable net pricing, largely reflecting higher incentive spending, unfavorable mix, lower market share and a reduction of dealer stocks, partially offset by cost reductions. For the year, North America's sales totaled $69.4 billion, compared to $80.6 billion a year ago.
For the fourth quarter, North America Automotive operations reported a pre-tax loss of more than $2.8 billion, compared to a pre-tax loss of $217 million in 2005. The increased losses primarily reflected unfavorable net pricing, largely reflecting higher incentive spending, a reduction in dealer stocks, unfavorable mix, and lower market share, partially offset by cost reductions. Fourth-quarter sales were $15.1 billion, compared to $21.4 billion in 2005.
South America : Ford's South America Automotive operations reported a full-year pre-tax profit of $551 million, a $152 million increase from 2005. The improvement primarily reflected higher volumes, partially offset by unfavorable currency exchange. Full-year sales improved to $5.7 billion from $4.4 billion in 2005.
In the fourth quarter, Ford's South America Automotive operations posted a pre-tax profit of $114 million, compared to a pre-tax profit of $131 million in 2005. The change was more than explained by unfavorable currency exchange. Fourth-quarter sales were $1.7 billion, an improvement from $1.3 billion a year ago.
Ford Europe: Ford Europe posted a full-year pre-tax profit of $469 million, an improvement of $396 million from a year ago. Sales for the year totaled $30.4 billion, compared to $29.9 billion in 2005.
For the fourth quarter, Ford Europe reported a pre-tax profit of $232 million, an improvement from $24 million a year ago. This improvement primarily reflected higher volume. Fourth-quarter sales totaled $8.8 billion, an increase of $900 million compared to a year ago.
Premier Automotive Group (PAG): For 2006, PAG reported a full-year pre-tax loss of $327 million, compared to a pre-tax loss of $89 million a year ago. The decline is more than explained by prior model warranty accrual adjustments at Jaguar and Land Rover and unfavorable currency exchange rates, partially offset by other cost reductions and favorable mix and pricing. Full-year sales for the group totaled $30 billion, compared to $30.3 billion in 2005.
In the fourth quarter, PAG reported a pre-tax profit of $191 million, an improvement of $129 million compared to the year-ago period. This improvement primarily reflected favorable volume and mix at Volvo due to the introduction of new products, and favorable pricing at Jaguar and Land Rover, partially offset by the effect of a weaker U.S. dollar against key European currencies. Fourth-quarter sales totaled $8.6 billion, compared to $8 billion a year ago.
Asia Pacific and Africa: For full-year 2006, Asia Pacific and Africa reported a pre-tax loss of $185 million, compared to a pre-tax profit of $61 million a year ago. The results primarily reflected adverse volume and mix and exchange rates, partially offset by cost reductions. Full-year sales totaled $6.5 billion, a decline from $7.7 billion in 2005.
For the fourth quarter, Asia Pacific and Africa reported a pre-tax loss of $135 million, compared to a pre-tax loss of $39 million in the year-ago period. The increased losses primarily reflected adverse volume and mix and exchange rates, partially offset by cost reductions. Fourth-quarter sales totaled $1.4 billion, compared to $1.8 billion in 2005.
Mazda: For full-year 2006, Ford's share of the pre-tax profit of Mazda and associated operations was $168 million, compared to $255 million a year ago. The decline was more than explained by the non-recurrence of gains on Mazda convertible bonds in 2005.
For the fourth quarter, Ford's share of the pre-tax profit of Mazda and associated operations was $51 million, compared to $32 million a year ago, which primarily reflected favorable operating performance.
Other Automotive: Full-year 2006 results included a pre-tax profit of $247 million, compared to a loss of $207 million a year ago, reflecting primarily higher interest income. Fourth-quarter results included a pre-tax loss of $59 million, an improvement of $43 million that primarily reflected higher interest income.
FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR
For the full year, the Financial Services sector earned a pre-tax profit of more than $1.9 billion, compared to $3.5 billion the prior year. For the fourth quarter, the Financial Services sector earned a pre-tax profit of $416 million, compared to $626 million the prior year.
Ford Motor Credit Company: Ford Motor Credit Company reported net income of $1.3 billion in 2006, down $621 million from earnings of $1.9 billion a year earlier. On a pre-tax basis from continuing operations, Ford Motor Credit earned more than $1.9 billion in 2006, down $970 million from 2005. The decrease in full-year earnings primarily reflected higher borrowing costs, higher depreciation expense and the impact of lower average receivable levels. These were partially offset by market valuations primarily related to non-designated derivatives and reduced operating costs.
In the fourth quarter of 2006, Ford Motor Credit's net income was $279 million, down $26 million from a year earlier. On a pre-tax basis, Ford Motor Credit earned $406 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $482 million in the previous year. The decrease primarily reflected higher borrowing costs and higher depreciation expense, partially offset by market valuations primarily related to non-designated derivatives.
CASH AND LIQUIDITY
The company ended the year with total Automotive cash, net marketable securities, loaned securities and short-term Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) assets at Dec. 31, 2006 of $33.9 billion, an increase from $23.6 billion at the end of the previous quarter. Total Automotive liquidity at Dec. 31, 2006 was $46 billion including credit facilities. The company's Automotive operating-related cash flow was $1.8 billion negative for the fourth quarter.
"We're pleased the financial markets expressed confidence in our turnaround plan by providing us with the additional liquidity we will need to fund our operations as we restructure to deliver sustainable profitability," said Mulally. "We will deploy this capital wisely to ensure we earn returns for our shareholders and deliver products our customers prefer."
2007 OUTLOOK
The company shared its financial outlook for 2007 and, consistent with previous guidance, expects market share and most earnings comparisons to remain challenging for the next two to three quarters.
More specifically:
- U.S. market share is expected to be down through the third quarter of 2007, primarily due to lower fleet sales.
- Production is expected to be down through the first half of 2007, but is expected to increase on a year-over-year basis in the second half of the year.
- Year-over-year third quarter comparisons will be impacted by the non-recurrence of tax-related interest income in 2006.
- Essentially no tax offsets to losses will be recognized – negatively impacting the first nine months of comparisons.
- The company's structural cost reductions will continue to grow during the year as personnel are separated, plants are idled and capacity is reduced.
- As previously stated, from 2007 through 2009 cumulative Automotive operating-related cash outflows will be about $10 billion, and cumulative restructuring expenditures will be about $7 billion. The company expects more than half of this $17 billion outflow will occur in 2007. These outflows also reflect plans to invest in new products at levels comparable to previous years, or about $7 billion annually.
- Special charges in 2007 are expected to be significantly lower than in 2006.
"While challenges lie ahead for us in 2007, we're focused on making continuous improvements to our plan, so we can capitalize on opportunities to create and sell more products and save more costs," Mulally said. "Our priorities, combined with our sense of urgency, will continue to transform Ford Motor Company."
Also shared were planning assumptions regarding the industry, operating metrics and profit outlook by business unit.
2007 Planning Assumptions
Industry Volumes
|
– U.S (Mils.) |
16.8 |
|
– Europe (Mils.) |
17.6 |
|
U.S. Industry Net Pricing |
Lower |
2007 Operational Metrics
|
Quality |
Improved |
|
Market Share |
|
|
– U.S. |
Lower |
|
– Other Regions |
Higher |
|
Automotive Costs* |
Lower |
|
Cash Flow |
Negative |
|
Capital Spending |
About $7 billion |
*At constant volume, mix and exchange; excludes special items
Pre-tax Profits by Major Operation
|
2007 Plan |
Comparison to 2006 |
|||
|
North America |
Loss |
|
||
|
South America |
Profit |
|
||
|
|
|
|||
|
Europe |
Profit |
|
||
|
P.A.G. |
Profit |
|
||
|
|
|
|||
|
Asia Pacific and Africa |
Loss |
|
||
|
Mazda and Associated Operations |
Profit |
|
||
|
|
|
|||
|
Subtotal Automotive Operations |
Loss |
Improved |
||
|
|
|
|||
|
Other Automotive (Primarily Interest) |
Loss |
Worse |
||
|
|
|
|||
|
Total Automotive |
Loss |
Worse |
||
|
|
|
|||
|
Financial Services |
Profit |
Worse |
||
|
|
|
|||
|
Pre-Tax Results Excl. Special Items |
Loss |
Worse |
||
|
|
|
|||
|
Taxes |
~Zero |
Worse |
||
|
|
|
|||
|
After-Tax Results Excl. Special Items |
Loss |
Worse |
||
|
|
|
|||
|
Special Items |
Loss |
Improved |
||
|
|
|
|||
|
Net Results |
Loss |
Improved |












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
dan spalinger 9:42AM (1/25/2007)
Chaper 11....calling Chapter 11!!
I LOVE this quote:
"U.S. market share is expected to be down through the third quarter of 2007, primarily due to lower fleet sales"
Riiiiight....you're losing market share because you voluntarily cut back on fleet sales....Thats believable....It has NOTHING to do with Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, and others cleaning your clock in terms of quality, desireable products....
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scott in summit 9:53AM (1/25/2007)
Funny how Ford's European products are so profitable - and so desirable to those of us here in the US who have seen them. Why can't they just build those stylish and practical cars from Europe over here? I think they would be a big hit - they could charge a small premium over most of the other super-bland US market models of its competitors.
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Piter 10:00AM (1/25/2007)
That works out to a loss of $24,163... PER MINUTE!
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British_Rover 10:12AM (1/25/2007)
Ouch...
Interesting to read the details though.
- Europe Profitable
- SA Profitable
- Mazda Profitable
- Asia/Africa almost profitable
- PAG would be profitable if not for the anchor that is Jaguar not sure what is going to happen with that
- NA HUGE LOSS
Without going into more detail then that it seems like it would make sense to run North American operations more like European operations...
It seems like Ford is planning to do that so lets see if the actually do.
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Fred D. 10:20AM (1/25/2007)
Wow - they lost almost $2,000 per car sold.
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Michael Karesh 10:23AM (1/25/2007)
#2: Ford's European profits are hardly "so profitable," just profitable. With a pre-tax profit of $469 million on sales of $30.4 billion, margins are still thin over there.
The company needs to stop putting most of its energy into the game of deciding who gets to sit at the top and actually pursue a consistent, logical product strategy. They've got a lot of work to do. A few weeks ago a Ford engineer wrote me to say that a report I wrote based on GM applied perfectly to Ford. The executive summary:
http://www.truedelta.com/execsum.php
In short, the company needs less emphasis on the fast-trackers who bounce from job to job and more on developing teams of experts.
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iQuack 10:23AM (1/25/2007)
Ford allowed itself to become a truck manufacturer at the expense of its car lines which are OK, but not competitive with Honda, Toyota, Nissan, or even GM now.
The best hope for Ford in the short run would be for lower gas prices to stimulate truck demand.
All of the adverse publicity can't be helping, either. Why buy from a company that's perceived as almost broke?
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Phelix 11:04AM (1/25/2007)
I don't think the average car buyer knows anything about ford's financial situation.
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Perry 10:53AM (1/25/2007)
I suspect they will be adding to that loss with this "new" horrendous Focus re-design! Who came up with that anyways? Instead of bringing over the Euro Focus or at least trying to shape the new one like that, they decide to change it completely AND drop the 5-door and Wagon....!!! Smart...very smart!
They think the Edge will save them! Good luck!
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Clinton 10:53AM (1/25/2007)
This and the latest issue of AutoWeek reports that sources within Ford have admitted the cost of developing the new NA Focus off the existing platform exceeded projections and ended up costing more then building the car using the C1! WTF!
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JarryHames 11:09AM (1/25/2007)
Ford needs to stop with the SUVs and go back to the basics. They need to make some solid, competitive, and reliable cars. The Focus should have been updated a longtime ago. The Five Hundred is just a dud. The Fusion has been getting good reviews. They should keep the nameplate and make sure they refine it often. Toyota and Honda and now Nissan are constantly refining their Camry, Accord, and Altima. Ford should have done that with the Focus and hopefully will do it with the Fusion. I'm sick of their SUV/CUVs. The Expidition, Explorer, Edge, and Freestyle are enough. But I think that they have another one coming out soon. We get it. You can make a SUV! Even GM is really pushing cars again and doing a decent job at it.
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Smeagol 11:17AM (1/25/2007)
"I don't think the average car buyer knows anything about ford's financial situation."
Well they do now; this is headline news almost everywhere.
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John Vang 12:11PM (1/25/2007)
When is Ford going to get it. Ford is taking away all the jobs for the little people and leaving alone the top guys. Little guy: $25,000/yr. Big guy: $160,000/yr. Geez..... Let's do some mathematics here. ?..... Anyone..... So why work on closing plants and geting rid of jobs to save money. Ford should work on getting a sales and research team together. The "OTHER" markets are doing well by regular standards. Why not ship over some of the European designs and NOT try new ones here. Ford already produces profit with those designs. Why fix something when it is not broken.
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lalaland 12:13PM (1/25/2007)
Amazing that Ford pisses and moans about Japanese yen manipulation when the dollar is so weak in Europe. Ford should be cleaning up in Europe. The dollar has lost 50 percent of its value against the Euro and the Pound in the last five years. How Ford of Europe can only make a slim profit is mind-boggling. Could you imagine how much money the Japanese would make if the yen went from its present 120-dollar to 200-dollar in five years? All thess idiots should be fired.
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laserwizard 12:09PM (1/25/2007)
Honda and Toyota had nothing to do with the shift from the vehicles the public craved for the last decade or so to now when the bigger the SUV, the better. Now, with the reality of fuel costs dictating purchasing for the first time on a significant percentage of the marketplace (read, not just the environazi, green snivelling pukes), the people are shifting to SMALLER (though not necessarily JAP) vehicles.
The overall market has EXPANDED and the Japanese have seized the entire growth in the marketplace, but haven't significantly degraded Ford or GM overall sales (cars and trucks). Market share percentages look smaller but the pie from which the slices are carved is significantly bigger than it was two years ago. Studies of automotive sales have shown this to be true (the first poster really needs to get informed). In fact, GM really makes the same volumne of vehicles it has done for decades with all classes considered, but its share of the LARGER sales fleet is a smaller PERCENTAGE.
Ford now has a CEO that gets it and based upon what I've seen of the interiors of new Ford models launched in 2006 and 2007, they are as good or superior to recent launches from Toyota and Honda (I was surprised at how CHEAP the new Camry looked on the inside).
Ford definitely has a ways to go to bring its entire fleet up to standards, but there is a silver lining in each rollout (the new Escape development head was fired over the tepid redo) so Mulally isn't playing games; even he can see the superiority of the European Ford product and he is aiming to ensure that all Fords worldwide are shared throughout the system with platforms and hardpoints being the same with minor cosmetic tweaks for each market.
Ford is not in any danger of Chapter 11. They are fighting for their corporate lives because of the problems from Jacques Nasser in the 1990's.
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$0.03 3:20PM (1/25/2007)
"It has NOTHING to do with Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, and others cleaning your clock in terms of quality, desireable products"
Show me one Asian vehicle that is "desireable" for anything other than PERCIEVED quality
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infinihertz 1:06PM (1/25/2007)
laserwizard, I want to thank you for a reply that was balanced, and actually contained information that made me learn something (unlike so many posts of late).
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wetstuff 1:17PM (1/25/2007)
I feel kinda sorry for them in Stillborn. It took long enough for that nepotistic putz to leave the helm but not before he ran the company onto a sandbar.
.
Then I stopped freeling sorry for them when I found out about that Bee Gee's-do dude, sales director, or whatever, flying to South Beach every weekend on the company jet. It's like: "Who gives a F__. We'll party 'till it's Game Over."
Not on my dime. 2001 was the last time I made a contribution to this bonfire.
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Allen K. 12:49PM (1/25/2007)
It certainly wasn't used in making higher quality products - inside or out. Too bad.
By the way Autoblog, nice new commenting system. I hated confirming by email!!!!
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Lee 12:38PM (1/25/2007)
Thats a huge loss ....
What i dont get is why Ford has so many SUVs and CUVs
makes no sense to have the
Explorer
Expedition
Freestyle
Edge
Escape
Explorer Sport Trac
All Ford needs is the Expedition Explorer and Escape
Large Midsize and Compact...
Also Ford does make there vehicles sorta bland really no design flares they dont have any swoops in the doors like Dodge Charger They all have square flat dash designs why cant Ford make cars here in the U.S. like they make the European Models they all look sleek and have some design to them and if they are such a big success over there then you think Ford would have the sense to bring them over here to the U.S. And if Ford keeps loseing money like that then there going to go bankrupt ... I mean to me it seems like a simple fix drop some Gas Guzzling SUVs
and bring out some sporty European Style cars but thats just my opinion...
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