Ford has admitted its financial situation is going to get worse before it gets better, according to BusinessWeek. Yesterday, the automaker posted a loss of $5.8 billion — its biggest since the 1992 recession. The company stated that its fourth-quarter earnings will decline further, as it continues to cut production, offer employee buyouts, and struggle with declining sales.
Luckily, Ford still has $23.6 billion on hand, but there’s no debating the fact that the company needs to move quickly to reverse its current momentum. Financial firm Goldman Sachs expressed concern over Ford’s future, maintaining a “sell” rating on the automaker’s stock. “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,” wrote analyst Robert Barry.
10/24, 11:55 AM
posted by:
BAMF
I know they’re right about it getting worse, but I sure hope they’re right about it getting better too… :\
10/24, 12:57 PM
posted by:
WEKS
Maybe they should just stop selling Ford branded passenger cars and just sell Ford trucks while leaving everything else to Mazda.
10/24, 1:02 PM
posted by:
A4
wahh
10/24, 1:06 PM
posted by:
GL1
Fords REALLY LAST MINUTE wake up call. as they didn’t wake up five years ago and start this turn around then, now they have to turn this around on a dime or go outa business… hell of a motivator I guess..
10/24, 1:16 PM
posted by:
nowei
Seems like a good time to buy Ford stock.
/no
10/24, 2:32 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
Now is the time for that Mulally dude to step up the pressure and make some hard decisions. Eliminate useless management layers, streamline their vehicles, DON’T neglect any product unless they’re being phased out etc.
10/24, 2:45 PM
posted by:
BAMF
nowei—- i’ve been thinking the same thing for about a year.
10/24, 3:02 PM
posted by:
Shawn1982
They need to put the same attention into their sedans as they put into their trucks and the Mustang
10/24, 3:16 PM
posted by:
Stuart
They need the euro cars as soon as possible. GM has already started with the Saturn but they can’t even compare to the euro ford which are million times better
10/24, 4:01 PM
posted by:
lanapat7
They need the Edge to be a hit.
10/24, 4:37 PM
posted by:
Sharif
they need to focus on their sedans and say forget Mustang for a while
10/24, 4:38 PM
posted by:
Sharif
They also need to reduce cost, and ask god to help them sell the Edge
10/24, 5:14 PM
posted by:
wetstuff
The Edge has already gotten ‘faint praise’ by some writers who saw them at a recent PR bash in CA. Let’s hope civilians like it better.
Jim
10/24, 8:46 PM
posted by:
Wickedated
For the love of God, sell Aston Martin before the brand gets sucked down into Ford’s black hole.
10/24, 9:19 PM
posted by:
LamborghiniZ
Ford is so out of it, they’re so disconnected with what the public wants, they cant’ even build a decent car anymore. You pro Ford nutjobs can come in here screaming about the Fusion or whatever, but get w/ it, its not that great, and it clearly isn’t doing much to help them.
10/24, 9:32 PM
posted by:
MikeFX
The sad thing is that they are building good cars. The 500 and the Fusion all get high marks for quality and driving feel. The problem is that they look dull and outdated (500 and Freestyle are best examples).
GM has the exact opposite problem in that their exterior designs are looking pretty good, but it’s still the same old plastic dash, rubbery shifter moving four gears, and pushrod engines (except for the new Saturns).
10/24, 11:07 PM
posted by:
ford fan
i just went thru the ford lot and saw a 45000$expedition and a 54K navigator who buys those. they need to make something nice like the 300 and make there cars look cool they have some nice small cars and sedans but they look old
10/25, 11:35 AM
posted by:
bigjob
hey Lambo. The Fusion is agreat car. Work at a Ford dealership, and this is a car, the youth have finally grasped on to. Now if you want to comapre it to high end cars, well then you are wacked. A well equipped car, a nice looking car, for a decent price, that has not been returning to service in droves. It is a great start. If Ford can turn out products like this in the future, they can make a go of. Later Lambo…go back to Europe LMAO
10/25, 4:17 PM
posted by:
global_lightning
Bigjob,
Any word on the Fusion/Milan hybrids? I’m replacing my Civic within the next year and would like to give these a shot at my business. I need a family sedan, preferably one that gets 35+ MPG combined. I’m sure there’s a pent-up market for a high-quality, efficient, well priced, American-made sedan. Note the word ’sedan’, not cross-over, SUV, stationwagon, mini-van, light truck, etc… My only options right now, however, are the Camry, Prius, Civic, and VW diesels.
10/26, 11:30 AM
posted by:
bigjob
global-light,,
Ford really was pushing Hybrids coming up to the release of the Escape. They laid out an aggressive plan of producing Hybrids….then….poof!! They changed their talk in a hurry. It seems they want to jump on the ethaynol (spelling) band wagon, and the agressive talk of Hybrid production a
has waned, but I though the Fusion and Milan were the next options to go against the Toyota Prius. I live in a rural area with many tempature extremes, and the Hybrid here is really useless for the most part. You turn on the defrost, and it kicks it out of the electric motor. Out in the country, you get it up over 25mph in a hurry kicking it into the gas motor, and do not receive much benefit from the electric motor. It is a big city urban vehcile, and thats where it shines. The technology will get better, but will something else be in place before it reaches that level. Somewhere up in Ford, they seem to be focusing on other areas in a quick 180 degree turn-around.
10/26, 7:25 PM
posted by:
chevy490
ford u should have gone french when u had the chance!!!