December 19, 2008 10:33AM
How Ford Was Bailed Out, Too
By Ray Hennessey
-
Share:
Ford's statement notes that the government gave emergency funding to GM and Chrysler, and not Ford. That is true: it did not receive the short-term loans from the government. But, it would be inaccurate to say Ford was not bailed out like the other two. Here's why:
- Ford is still seeking a $9 billion bridge loan from the government, though it notes it “hopes” it doesn't need it
- Ford also has said the failure of one or more of its competitors would also possibly lead to its own bankruptcy, so preventing such failures helps them
- Any concessions from the UAW on wages would benefit Ford.
So, while Ford did not get cash in this latest round, they, too, were essentially bailed out by the White House and Treasury.
-
Share:
Why be so negative? Ford did what the other two companies didn’t do they cut/closed/trimmed in all areas, and still get castigated? The UAW OTOH has done nothing but continue in the same old same old. I would change the focus to the UAW, let America see their buildings, private jets, and the many holdings, and the salaries of the officers of the UAW. America needs to see just how much money the UAW extracts from its members and what the members receive in exchange. I also find it interesting that there is little mention that Toyota, Honda, and Isuzu, are heavily impacted by the downturn and are either losing money, laying off, or expecting their employees to give back to their company in order for their companies to remain viable in the future. I don’t mind looking at Ford/Chrysler/GM, but how about showing Foreign car makers and their troubles also.
I find it funny the media keeps calling it a bailout. It’s a LOAN not a bailout. The banks got a blank check from Nancy and the other mutants who room the halls of congress. If anyone should be giving up their private aircraft and take paycuts it should be congress. They have failed at just about everything, but they sure don’t feel bad giving themselves a big raise every year why the majority of folks are loosing their jobs.
BTW Ray and the rest of you folks who want to see the big 3 fail, I hope you enjoy your spot in the breadlines with the rest of us if it happens.
I hate all the spin and negativity in the media these days. Too much bias and personal agendas anymore than truthfully honest news. We the people must take any media publication with a grain of salt anymore to get through all the misguided opinions and to the facts/truth of the topic at hand.
Even though the author is partly true in his points, using his philosophy, he’d also have to agree the entire auto industry is receiving a bailout/concessions from the money GM/Chrysler received. This includes all auto manufacturers (domestic or import) and their suppliers, dealerships, workers (union or non-union), etc. So only to include Ford because they are one of the Big 3 or because the author has a bias, simply removes any credibility this article had.
Now I fully agree the UAW packages need investigated and brought back into line with the rest of the US manufacturing industry. They aren’t the only reason these manufacturers are in this ordeal, but they are a huge contributing factor.
Lastly, why is it that Ford is doing something good but they are still getting bashed? Why not produce something positive about Ford going it alone and not taking tax payer money? Guess that would be too hard of an article to write, because we call know it’s much easier to tear people/companies down than to prop them up.
I don’t understand all the hostility to the author and FBN in the above blogs. I was happy when my Mutual Fund dumped Ford when it was $30 a share. Back then (about one year ago) I couldn’t find one new Ford car on Seattle’s East side in a 100. The few I did see looked derivitive of the same old tired Taurus design. So cut Mr H. some slack, whether or not Ford gets a bail out is irrelevant. It’s going down the crapper with the other two detroit dino’s. Bye the way what’s Ford trading for today?
Ford’s Alan Mulally is the best CEO in the business at the moment, Ford were in a terrible state when he started as CEO, Ford’s workforce really has given Mulally 100% support and united behind him, they have suffered a lot of pain already to turn Ford around. Ford now match and beat Toyota & Honda on quality and if you look at Novembers sales they lead the pack F-Series is still the No1 best seller the numbers are not pretty but Fords market share is growing both in the US and in Europe where Ford is No2 best selling brand so they are beating the best in Europe as well. They will be bringing some of these fuel-efficient model from Europe to the US in the next couple of years.
Nobody was a winner in November but Ford leads the pack with the smallest fall of in sales as the credit crunch bites.
Ford –30.6%
Honda –31.6%
Toyota –33.9%
GM –41.3%
Chrysler –47%
Ford and its workforce don’t deserve to be kicked in teeth like this they have been in this blog, they worked so hard to turn things around and they have not asked for one dime from the US government due to their fantastic turnaround; Americans need to start looking at Fords again they have changed for the better, it’s long overdue.
Jelly from London
How about letting Ford out of the failure mix? Clearly they are not as bad off as the rest and can set a course now for recovery by themselves, unlike GM and Chrysler who will go belly up without help. Because Ford is the “lucky benefactor”, like the rest of the American economy, does not make them a direct bail-out recipient. Lay off, and let credit be due where credit is due. Ford has been on a quality campaign for a few years now, and recently were rated next to Toyota for reliability, that says something. We have a Ford Taurus in the family that has near 200,000 trouble free miles on it, not many car companies can make claims of their products like that. I believe the once underdog will rise to the top after all this is said and done.
To all those misguided posts before this one saying things like “This is not a bailout its a LOAN”, I pose this question.
If you “loan” me $100 dollars and I don’t have the money or the incentive to pay you back what is the outcome? The answer is you still DON’T get your money back and are out $100. Wake up and have the guts to call a spade, a spade. It’s a handout, charity to failing businesses, A BAILOUT. We might as well burn our hard earned money. Don’t get caught up in the fancy new term “bridge loan”, which is like putting lipstick on a pig.
I said it earlier and I’ll say it again America is more than just the one auto industry. Funny thing is that industry isn’t even “American” anymore because the only thing done here is tighten a few screws and maybe a wash and wax. Let the FREE MARKET that is AMERICAN work and get rid of BAD BUSINESS MODELS!!!
Within a 10 Mi radius of my house there are 3 Chevy, 2 Ford and 2 Dodge and only 1 Honda and 1 Toyota dealership. The whole supply chain of the “once-big” 3 needs to change and the only way that will happen is if they fail.
Garbage reporting and with your logic that means every American taxpayer just got bailed out.
Who are we kidding here! You do a good job with your money management and some reporter throws you in the sack with the failures. So bottom line, the people at Gm and chrysler is now going to have our unskilled, untested, never worked a real job in their life politicians manage their money for them?
I give it 6 weeks even with the money. Our politicians have no real world experience, they are just opportunists with a hair doo and have won a popularity contest. Hell, half of them are actors! Sorry, there is no scrip writer to save em here!
When will the UAW (mafia) wake up and smell the coffee? Their pockets have been filled way to long. All three make great cars, but their Management is poor at best.
US manufacturers build A LOT of cars in the US… MORE importantly, they are DESIGNED in the US.. The proffits come back to the US… Japanese companies have a few token plants here but not on the level of the US companies..
It is all about perception anyway…. The GEO Prizm was the EXACT same car as the Toyota Corolla… but people will swear by the corolla and mock the Prizm as a worthless hunk of junk… It us all about perception… Too many people ignore that chevy beats the competion in fuel economy..
Chevy Mailbu 33mpg Honda Accord 31mpg Toyota Camry 31mpg
Chevy CObalt 37mpg Honda Civic 36mpg Toyota Carolla 35mpg
You all need to come back to reality and realize that US cars are the best in the world and stop brainlessly hating your own country…
Someone said the Unions were getting off the hook. Well yes they send 100 of thousands of dollars to the key democratic players in Congress. They also back up all the democratic State leaderships roles with 1000000 dollars. You are darn right they, unions, will get a pass on this one. They should have been taken to the woodshed along with the CEO’s, but they somehow got overlooked. Not by the republicans they said no as long as the Unions were willing to give up something then the game was off.
So now the President will step in and give them money but now the unions will have to set down and negotiate, I will bet they are the first to get up and walk away at the expense of 100000′ s of their worker loosing their jobs. The fat cat Union bosses are in it for themselves not the workers.
I want to know when someone plans to replace all the money I lost out of my 401K, I tried doing things the legal way. I worked, I saved, I didn’t abuse my credit, do I get any money for doing it right???????? Well we all know the answer. It is a big fat NO. Thank you Pelosi, reid, barney,McCain, Dodds, Obama and all the rest of your meery band of crooks. Rob from the workers and give to the rich business man and the rich politician, what a new concept.
American cars beat the jap cars hands down… Toyota has had ore recalls this year than any other company… Only you ignorant elitists that refuse to acknowledge the changes in american cars bad mouth american industry.. apparently you think that american might and manufacturing should dissolve away and the US she be subjugated to their japanese masters… You good little anti-americans keep on ignorantly bashing US industry… eventually everyone will buy into your lies and then america will be as week as any other third world nation…
Let us not forget that the only reason that ford is in the position they are in, is because 2 years ago they were on the verge of bankruptcy… When it was easy to get money loaned they mortgaged every single asset… even their trademarks… GM was actually doing very well and had turned things around…They had quite a bit of cash in reserve for an economic down turn… but no one foresaw the callapse of the lending industry.. So while GM had been the strongest company, they were the closest to the edge because they didn’t need any money before the economic downturn… now they CAN’T do what ford did two years ago because in September a german bank declared their value to be zero…