I heart you Ford – thanks for being one of the few bright spots in America.

“We are managing our debt and working hard to pay it off. We are also going to pay back our loans unlike other companies.” – Nice knock on the competitors.

why didnt i buy ford stock back in february.
good job to ford and mulally. now if youll shoehorn the 5.0 into the fiesta, ill be a happy man

Amazing what building cars that don’t suck (anymore) can do for a company’s bottom line…

” Unlike its crosstown rivals,Ford is using private funding generated strictly from company income in order to pay down its debt – GM is using a cash reserve fund given to GM from the U.S. Treasury in order to pay off its TARP loans.”

Come on LLN. You must be trying to start something when you write stuff like this^^^^

@JakeK66
Great point.

Great news for Ford. Keep it up.

Unfortunately the debt load is incorrect. They owe about $130 billion.

130 Billion? Now that is a lot of debt..wow.

where are you getting that number, carstuff? it sounds too high…

ford shares still have room to grow, this isn’t the end of the road…there’s another year of positive growth leading up to the point they officially are profitable again, at which time who knows where the stock will go…i’m no expert, but i think 20 bucks a share is possible by 2011 if the trend continues…if there is a market-wide dip that punishes ford stock, it would be a good idea to pick some up…

0-60 – LLN didn’t write it- it’s a quote, and labeled as such. And I think you misinterpreted what Jake said as well, he was pointing out the quote from Ford… not implying LLN was knocking anyone.

Carstuff is referring to long-term debt, which is not what is commonly being referred to when someone refers to “debt”

For example, the current U.S. debt is in the realm of $12 trillion, but long term U.S. debt is over $100 trillion… but it would be misleading to use that number in that case…just as it would be to imply that Ford has $130b now.

@Mark Kleis
First let me say I like to see a writer get involved in the comments.
I understood where Jake was coming from, but I didn’t see quotations around the “quote” that I commented on. Also I didn’t read anywhere that said someone else said that. If I am still reading it wrong that that is my fault.
Again I thank you for getting involved in the stories you write.

Mulally is banking on Detroit iron like the 5.0 ‘Stang to pay off his debt.

Lutz thinks all it takes is a few pieces of cheap chrome.

That’s the difference between those who borrow and those who beg.

Maybe I do not understand but from what I know Long term debt is debt that is due later than one year from today. In other words Ford owes $130 billion but most of it is due long term, more than a year from now.
They still owe it. Perhaps someone can explain it better.

Here is where I find financials:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=F

I’ll never forgive myself for not buying Ford’s stock when it’s only 98 cents. Ford is the only American car company I would consider when buying my next car.

Good job FORD! Keep it up! Only the companies who are determined, and who WANT to survive, will come out on top! Everyone else just sits on their asses, begging other people for help.

This is great news about Ford. Certainly they are giving it their best and it is so much easier to root for them having not taken taxpayer money. But I’m still a GM guy at heart.

@ 0-60: that sentence you quoted from this story jumped out at me as well. There are no quotations around it making it out to be LLN’s position or a typo. Pretty harsh.

@ Mark: as always thanks for your input here in the comments section. Kind of cool to pick the brains of people that have the ‘inside track’ on auto news. But, I must say that I have kind of noticed a pattern that makes me think you are a Ford fan. That’s great if so, but It seems to show in some of your stories. Makes it sort of aggravating to read.

He’ll get nominated for CEO of the decade.

@johnnycanuck,

I’m assuming you’re being facetious. Yeah I read the article about there being some emphasis on chrome striping… Ain’t been no real chrome on cars since the mid 80s. But the truth is that cars with a little embellishment come off as “not cheap”, “not rental fleet”, and, as was pointed out, would be perceived as being at least $500 more valuable.

It is a proven fact that CAMRYs and ACCORDs that don’t have the chrome stripping on or around the windows don’t sell as quickly as those that do. I’m sure GM, FORD, and CHRYSLER are much more sensitive about this fact as applied to their vehicles.

While it doesn’t work on every car and I seriously doubt we will return to those heady days of the 1950’s, where there was at least as much chrome as paint on a car, if it helps, why knock it?

F_uck Ford and ther death mobiles..!

I wonder if FORD will celebrate paying off their debts with a bright shiny new sports car (THUNDERBIRD?) or FINALLY building, if updated, a version of the GR-1 Super car…

Blakkarr, wouldn’t that be nice? We can only hope.

On a side note – I know Alan gets alot of the credit, and he damn well deserves it – but remember the guy who put them there too. Bill Ford may not have done a good job or even an adequate job at controlling Ford early this decase (although Nasser wasn’t much help) but he had the forsight to see what this company needed to do, step away from some of the leadership and put a man in from the outside. I think we should all realize Bill’s place in the current success of Ford as if it weren’t for his willingness to give up power, Ford would have been the first in bankruptcy.

For all the crap people talk about you I just want to say – Thanks Bill

johnnycanuck

You are 100% Correct and “Nail It” !

Lutz needs to look at his on product anyway the Malibu already has Chrome around the widows. Technology and Quality beats out Cheap Chrome “Everyday”

-Sarge

Ford’s Auto Ops Debt is approx. $25 Billion, while Ford Credit (a banking-type institution) has over $100 Billion in debt… these operate as (2) separate entities and have different debt repayment structures, so its best to think of their balance sheets separately.

Ford gets my respect and might even get my business if I am in the market for an American vehicle; I cannot say the same for GM or Chrysler. I am placing high hopes on Tesla and Fisker to also improve the American automotive landscape.

To Chrome Lutz: Chrome won’t get you home. (You have to ride motor to understand this one—not the coattails of the American Taxpayers). Also, I was looking at the new 911S and was overcome by all the chrome it had.

i see, carstuff, thanks…greg handled my question, if the yahoo financial sheet is reporting total debt by combining debt from ford credit as well as the manufacturer’s obligations, then that number will be deceiving…

LWA, I am not sure it is that simple. Ford credit is part of Ford corp which is all owned by the shareholders. For GM that is not true. GMAC is pretty much a separate company and their debt is not part of GM.

I would love to see a chart of Chrysler, GM, Honda, Ford and Toyota:

debt
bonds
cash
unencumbered assets
encumbered assets
stock x value

GM’s PR department hard at work trying to make public debt appear like private debt so GM can just be “like all the others.” What a laugh. Have the pallbearers been assigned for GM’s funeral yet?

@ Ashes

“Ford gets my respect and might even get my business if I am in the market for an American vehicle”

Yeah, sure you would. We all know what a snot-nosed import cheerleader you are.

That’s good.

Some of the comments here are misguided. First, Ford really does have $132 billion in debt, down from $156 billion a year prior. They aren’t going to pay it all off ever. With rare exceptions (some cash rich tech companies) all companies have debt. A year ago Ford had 2.3 billion shares of stock. Now they have 3.3 billion shares of shock @ $10 a share. There’s your $10 billion that they used to pay down the debt. They simply shifted the capital structure from debt to equity. There’s been no actual financial progress. In fact they wouldn’t even be able to sell debt at anything below 13% with a steep discount below par if it weren’t for the Federal Reserve buying it all up (driving the yield down to 9% where it probably sells at par). After borrowing at near 10%, Ford credit lends the money to poor people at 0%. It’s no wonder they haven’t had a profitable year, nevermind a profitable decade since most of us have been alive. If you own the stock long term you’re investing in a losing company. You’d be better off with the money in a mattress (other than finding a bigger idiot to sell your worthless equity to, which is what the stock market is these days). And their dealers wouldn’t be able to get floorplan loans (for the cars in the showroom) if the Fed wasn’t also buying (monetizing) those, permanently. As in, the Federal Reserve is using domestic autos to back the entire currency. So of course Ford would rather sell worthless stock (equity) to the public if they have some appetite for it. It is in fact worthless because the firm has more liabilities than assets, resulting in negative shareholder’s equity.

i’m pretty sure it is that simple…the debt load of gm vs gm+gmac is going to look very different…gmac is a loan company, they work by being in debt, that’s what they do…you need to separate the manufacturing arm from the loan arm of the company to get an idea of whether they’re making money off of building cars…

and yes, ford and gm/gmac are different, but you could write the equation like this: ford = gm + gmac…which is why the ford balance sheet shows long term debt not related to manufacturing…in other words, ford is not required to pay off the 130 billion long term debt on the balance sheet, as much of that debt is going to be paid to ford credit for the loans it’s lent out…see what i mean?

westwest888, you say that it’s a dead company, but the shares have gone up almost 10-fold in 12 months…i’m pretty sure your portfolio hasn’t done the same thing…so somebody’s analysis is wrong here…

leftwing- I believe he’s saying in the long term they’re a dead company (stating that they wouldn’t be a long term investment).

I don’t believe however, West888, that Ford allowing “poor people” to borrow at 0% is the only reason why they aren’t doing so well. That’s a large, more than 10% loss on each car (leased?) on the other hand, but add the fact that’s generally regarded by us car guys that they haven’t been selling as many, or as profitable vehicles in the past 20 years…
And using domestic automakers to back the entire currency? I’m no currency expert, but that’s far fetched for me.

in the long term, we’re all dead…i fail to see how that gets him out of the argument ;P

what is the long term? buying and holding stocks for 10 years isn’t a viable strategy any longer, not like it once was, the bubbles of the past 10 years have proven that…for the near future ford shares are likely to go up as the recession eases at least until 2011 when they’re projected to be profitable…no guarantees after that…

jayjc08 – http://tinyurl.com/usfedcurrency

So the currency is backed by whatever is on the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet. For years it’s been between $800 billion and $1 trillion dollars – the monetary base. Now it’s $2.2 trillion. The extra $1.4 trillion is mcmansions in orange county, credit card securities, auto loan securities, condos in san diego, subprime loans mischaracterized as prime loans, mezzanine financing on office buildings that moguls paid 100% too much for, loans to bailed out companies, etc.

F stock has some speculative value. Some portfolio managers think they can buy it now, hope will continue to rise, and that they can sell it to other portfolio managers in the future. But when you pencil it out, it’s sort of a longshot that the equity is really worth much. What will make or break in coming decades it is how the US government deals with retirement obligations in general – pensions, social security. If the feds bailout or remove this obligation from too big to fail entities (industrials, states, cities), it’d be huge for F, GM, whoever’s valuation. You could see the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation turn into the next GMAC, AIG, Fannie Freddie – a ward of the state that chronically loses tens of billions of dollars a quarter, but is saved as a policy measure to keep things normal.

And it is not Ford=GM + GMAC.

GMAC is not longer owned by GM (maybe a tiny percentage)

You might as well say GM + Wells Fargo = Ford and be just as correct.

In fact in Auto News there was an article that GM needs to start their own captive finance arm like Ford has to remain competitive.

So GM does have a lot less debt than Ford which is/will be a huge toll on Ford.

Remember GM is the lowest cost producer in the world now of the large automotive companies. They will be making a whole lot more money than Ford soon.

@BuyUSA, I have bought many a GM car and a few Fords, so shove it with your crap and your patriotism nonsense. You make America, and Americans look stupid. I’ll buy whatever I damn well want because I can. And for your information Mr. Dumb-Ass, I took heavy consideration of buying a Galpin Ford/Metalcrafters (that’s right Metalcrafters’ fabricates this model) IACOCCA Mustang, but I want Confederate P120 Fighter (I’ve known Matt Chambers since about a year after he first started Confederate). So seriously, go screw yourself. Instead of your empty-headed crap, why don’t you go back to school and get an education to not embarrass the rest of America so much?

@carstuff, Do you work for GM, married or related to a GM related employee or any company affiliated with GM? I will guarantee you that at the highest levels that both GMAC and GM business is discussed and decided by the same people, and although the two act if they are separate—other than paperwork, they are not for all intensive purposes.

@ Ashes

I stand by my original comment. If you are so butthurt about your tax dollars being spent bailing out the automakers, why don’t you go knocking on the door of some unproductive welfare queen and demand your money back as well. The Big 3 got us through WWII and are largely responsible for building the middle class in this country. Giving them a lending hand during an economic collapse and keeping millions of productive working people on the payroll is the least we can do. It’s unpatriotic, self-righteous, egomaniacal jerks like you who are an embarrassment to this nation, not I.

Just for your own information, I do have an education. Merry Christmas.

BuyUSA,

Over the last 40 years, how many suppliers, consumers and employees have been hurt by the actions of the D3? How many worthless warranties? How many suppliers have they pinched to the point of making the part so cheap that quality must be sacrificed? How many employees have been fired or offshored due to poor product planning, manufacturing and design? How many towns have been left for dead because of incompetent leadership?

Yeah, we can look at the 50’s and 60’s and what the D3 did, but not at the cost of ignoring the last 40 years of poor leadership, poor products, poor dealerships experience and lack of focus on the customer.

You’re living in the ancient past.

What isn’t clear is….did Ford pay back 10 billion of the 23.5 billion mortgage?

mwc, no Ford paid $10 billion this year by selling stock and now owes $23.5 billion.