Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Mulally pockets $28 million in 2006]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/05/mulally-pockets-28-mil-while-ford-loses-12-bil/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/05/mulally-pockets-28-mil-while-ford-loses-12-bil/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/05/mulally-pockets-28-mil-while-ford-loses-12-bil/#commentsFiled under: ,

Reuters is reporting that while Ford Motor Co. posted a $12.7 billion loss last year, its new Chief Executive earned $28.18 million. And that was for four months worth of work. Alan Mulally's pay for 2006 included salary and stock options, as well as an $18.5 million bonus. The man Mulally replaced, Chairman Bill Ford, had made good on his pledge to forego compensation until the company made a turnaround, and had no salary, bonuses, or stock earnings during the first 8 months of 2006. In the grand scheme of things, $28 million is a drop in the bucket compared to the huge corporate losses Ford has posted, but hopefully Ford is getting what they are paying for with their new CEO. Only time will tell, as the automaker isn't expected to get back into the black until 2009 at the earliest.

In all fairness, Mulally's package included a $7.5 million signing bonus and Ford had to pay an additional $11 million to compensate for getting him out of his Boeing contract early. And in case some think Ford would be smart to dump him and take the company in a different direction, the EXIT package would be almost as big. If the CEO is released during his first five years on the job, his exit package is valued at $27.54 million. Mulally gets that amount if he is let go for anything other than cause. That includes being let go due to a merger or bankruptcy filing. To put it in perspective, Ford President of the Americas Mark Fields made $5.57 million last year. That included a salary of $1.25 million and something related to using a jet. And CFO Don Leclair had $4.4 million in total compensation for 2006.

[Source: Reuters]

Mulally pockets $28 million in 2006 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Alan MulallyAlanMulallyBill FordBillFordDon LeclairDonLeclairexecutive compensationExecutiveCompensationFord Motor CoFordMotorCoMark FieldsMarkFieldsThu, 05 Apr 2007 15:02:00 EST<![CDATA[New Ford incentives focus on Fusion and F-150]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/04/new-ford-incentives-focus-on-fusion-and-f-150/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/04/new-ford-incentives-focus-on-fusion-and-f-150/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/04/new-ford-incentives-focus-on-fusion-and-f-150/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Not wanting to lose the momentum from 2006, Ford Motor Co. will offer some new lease deals and cut-rate financing on the Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans. The F-150 gets in on the action as well, with leasing and financing incentives on some models. The new deals that follow will run from January 3 to February 28.

Beginning yesterday, customers can lease a 2.3-liter equipped Fusion for $249/month for 39 months with zero cash out of pocket at signing. The Mercury Milan can be leased for even less, at $208/month, but requires $1,999 cash up front. If a lease doesn't suit your needs, 4.9% financing for up to 60 months is also available.

To generate some interest in the full-size truck market, the F-150 SuperCab XLT lease is available for $249/month for 36 months and the F150 SuperCrew XLT comes in at $299/month for 24 months, both requiring $1,999 cash at the time of signing.

Rearing its ugly head again is zero percent interest, now available for up to 60 months on the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner. One cool feature, however, is the no-charge "Moon and Tunes" package that adds a power moonroof with sun shade, AM-FM radio 6-disc CD changer, and a roof rack with cross bars.

[Source: Automotive News (sub req'd.]

New Ford incentives focus on Fusion and F-150 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>EscapeF150Ford Motor CoFordMotorCoFusionMarinerMercuryMilanSuperCabSuperCrewThu, 04 Jan 2007 12:03:00 EST<![CDATA[Toyota poised to take #2 spot from Ford]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/21/toyota-poised-to-take-2-spot-from-ford/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/21/toyota-poised-to-take-2-spot-from-ford/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/21/toyota-poised-to-take-2-spot-from-ford/#commentsFiled under: ,

Ford Motor Co. has admitted what we saw coming for some time. The New York Times just ran a story saying Ford has announced that they fully expect Toyota to take over as number two behind General Motors. At least in America. Perhaps not unexpected, but it still sounds weird to hear that Ford won't be #2. To put this in perspective, Ford has been number two since the 1920s! And if that's not enough, Ford says the projections show they think that third place might be their permanent new slot. Apparently The Way Forward means taking one step back, which if that's what it takes to return to profitability, then so be it.

Back in September Ford speculated that its market share would hit a low of 14-15% allowing Toyota to surpass it. With the death of the Taurus and the decline in sales of light trucks, Ford has certainly been hurting. Conversely, it seems that Toyota can do no wrong with buyers, despite product that some consider boring and increased recalls with uncharacteristic lapses in quality. But things aren't looking any better for Ford. The new Tundra should be out in February, which will only increase Toyota's market share according to most analysts. Although we expect the Dodge Ram to be the truck that suffers most from the Tundra's arrival, eventually relinquishing it's No. 3 spot to the Japanese pickup over time.

[Source: Reuters via The New York Times]

Toyota poised to take #2 spot from Ford originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Dec 2006 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Ford Motor CoFordMotorComarket shareMarketShareThu, 21 Dec 2006 12:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Ford neuters the beancounters]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/20/ford-neuters-the-beancounters/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/20/ford-neuters-the-beancounters/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/20/ford-neuters-the-beancounters/#commentsFiled under: ,

Ford just amended its bylaws to take a little fiscal power away from its board. In the old version of the bylaws, the finance committee could greenlight spending on product development projects. Under the new one, not so much. The Dow Jones MarketWatch learned about this item through a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Apparently the board will still be able to review how things are done regarding the management of Ford's financial affairs, but the ability to ok items will be removed. What this will probably mean in the real world is that decisions can happen more quickly. Management will be able to make decisions on its own concerning product and won't have as many layers of approval to go through to make changes when needed. Sounds like a step in the right direction. Anything that cuts the bureaucracy has to be good.

Thanks for the tip, Devin!

[Source: Dow Jones MarketWatch]

Ford neuters the beancounters originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Dow Jones MarketWatchDowJonesMarketwatchFord Motor CoFordMotorCorevised bylawsRevisedBylawsSecurities and Exchange CommissionSecuritiesAndExchangeCommissionWed, 20 Dec 2006 19:18:00 EST<![CDATA[Whither the white collar: Ford set to buyout 10,000 salaried workers]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/12/wither-the-white-collar-ford-set-to-buyout-10-000-salaried-work/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/12/wither-the-white-collar-ford-set-to-buyout-10-000-salaried-work/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/12/wither-the-white-collar-ford-set-to-buyout-10-000-salaried-work/#commentsFiled under: ,

Here come the pink slips for the white-collar guys and gals at Ford. And to speed up the exodus, 6 preprogrammed tags have been added to those termination notices. Actually, Ford Motor Co. is starting to offer buyouts to many of its salaried employees to help trim its U.S. payroll. As many as 85 percent of each department's workers will get the option of the buyout. Ford is looking to rid itself of 10,000 of its 38,500 salaried workers by 2008.

If the buyouts don't produce big enough cuts, layoffs will be used. Ford already got 38,000 hourly workers to sign up for buyout programs earlier this year. This new program was started in October. They started making the offers to salaried workers and senior managers and are now going after lower level managers and non-management workers.

Follow the jump for more details.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Continue reading Whither the white collar: Ford set to buyout 10,000 salaried workers

Whither the white collar: Ford set to buyout 10,000 salaried workers originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 12 Dec 2006 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>buyoutsFord Motor CoFordMotorColayoffsTue, 12 Dec 2006 10:02:00 EST<![CDATA[Ford bolstering roofs of some models in wake of lawsuits]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/06/ford-bolstering-roofs-of-some-models-in-wake-of-lawsuits/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/06/ford-bolstering-roofs-of-some-models-in-wake-of-lawsuits/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/06/ford-bolstering-roofs-of-some-models-in-wake-of-lawsuits/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

When a vehicle rolls over, one of the critical components in assuring the safety of its occupants is the roof structure and its ability to protect, not injure its occupants. On the heels of nearly $250-million dollars in judgments relating to injuries caused in rollover accidents, Ford Motor Company has considerably stepped up its efforts to assure the roof strength of its vehicles.

A new standard proposed by NHTSA in August, 2005 raises the minimum force withstood by a roof structure from a multiple of 1.5 to 2.5 times the vehicle's weight while maintaining sufficient head room for a buckled-in average size adult male to avoid being struck by a crushed roof. Unfortunately, a final ruling could take as long as a year and would give the manufacturers until at least 2011 to comply.

In a letter to the NHTSA, Ford's director of automotive safety office, James P. Vondale, disclosed that some versions of 11 models would have roofs 20 percent stronger than required. For instance, the Expedition and Navigator, as well as some F-250 and E-series models would exceed the standard, matching the Volvo XC90, which has one of the strongest roofs on the market.

Follow the jump for more info and a list of the 11 models from Ford that will receive stronger roofs in the near future.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Continue reading Ford bolstering roofs of some models in wake of lawsuits

Ford bolstering roofs of some models in wake of lawsuits originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh boy. It looks like the $5.8 billion loss Ford just reported isn't the end of the red ink for the foreseeable future. On Oct. 23, new Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally had to announce those huge third-quarter losses, the biggest quarterly loss since 1992. The Premier Automotive Group (the luxury group that includes Land Rover, Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Volvo), alone was responsible for $600 million of that loss. Now the company has announced that fourth-quarter earnings will also be dismal due to production cuts, lack of SUV demand, and employee buyouts.

Chief Financial Officer Don Leclaire reassured those in attendance that Ford's cash reserves were adequate to meet the crisis at the meeting on Monday. Although Ford had a negative cash flow of $3.1 billion during the quarter, it finished the period with $23.6 billion. This was partially possible after it transferred $3 billion from their VEBA (Voluntary Employee Benefits Assn.) fund.

Particularly troubling, at least according to Goldman Sachs analyst Robert Barry, were losses from the Ford Premier Auto Group and Ford Motor Credit: "The scale of losses in PAG were worse than expected -- a loss of $593 million vs. our estimates of a $134 million loss. And Ford Motor Credit earnings were well below our expectations -- just $448 million vs. our $710 million estimate." Goldman Sachs had rated Ford a "sell," but just removed that tag today, apparently feeling that the restructuring might make a difference. "We think the focus will remain weighted to restructuring upside," Robert Barry of Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients, after he upgraded Ford shares today to "neutral" from "sell."

It made a difference for Ford stock prices too, as shares were up 4.8 percent to $8.28 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. That represents the biggest one-day percentage gain since late August when expectations were high for a turnaround plan by the automaker. That doesn't mean Ford is out of the water just yet, and to his credit, Mulally admitted that Ford's results were "unacceptable" and really didn't try to spin the numbers. After accounting for $2.1 billion of the previous quarter's loss, Mulally said that the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover is again being considered: "Clearly, the review of that is high on my priority list." Aston Martin is still on the block and has had at least three potential buyers step forward. The sale of AM could bring $500-$750 million.

On top of that, Ford is going to have to restate losses all the way back to 2001 as a result of a discrepancy in derivative investment accounting. None of this boosts Wall Street's confidence in the automaker. On the plus side though, Ford saw an unexpected gain from interest on overpaid taxes from as far back as the early 1990s, earnings from its South American operations, and from their share of increased Mazda sales. Mulally also said that Ford has stopped looking for an alliance with another automaker, such as the recently scrubbed Renault-Nissan deal with GM.

[Sources: BusinessWeek and Automotive News, sub req.]

Q4 for Ford will be even worse, stock prices still rise originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 07:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Alan MulallyAlanMulallyDon LeclaireDonLeclaireFord Motor CoFordMotorCoGoldman SachsGoldmanSachsPAGPremier Automotive GroupPremierAutomotiveGroupRobert BarryRobertBarryWed, 25 Oct 2006 07:54:00 EST