11/08/07

Ford Reports $380M 3rd Quarter Loss

Ford Motor has reported a third quarter net loss of $380 million on global operations. Lots of cash to bleed, but compared with last year's $5.2 billion bye-bye in the 3rd quarter, it's good news.

Ford's North American auto business returned a pretax loss of $1.0 billion, compared with $2.1 billion a year ago.

A company drops a billion in the US and it's good news?

Yes, because that leaves the lights on, meaning the company's borrowed-to-the-hilt $23 billion restructuring nest egg will last, and can be spent on development of new products Ford's remaining customers actually want.

Ford sold 1,487,000 vehicles worldwide, up from 1,467,000 for the same quarter a year ago.

The company may finalize the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover in early 2008. The good news may save Volvo from the auction block, a huge victory for CEO Alan Mulallay.

Ford predicted a year-over-year improvement, maybe even break-even, for the fourth-quarter. How hard could that be, against last year's pre-tax quarterly loss of $3.15 billion?

As a longtime Ford owner, I'd love to see the company make a comeback. But I'm still not sure the Ford family and the managers they hire are prepared to actually "get it."

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