Comments on: Ford US loses $5.5 billion in fourth quarter of 2008

By: carsgetreal

carsgetreal — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 09:54:45 +0000

Well may we remember the 70’s ,the UK and a car industry on its knees producing garbage cars , riddled with faults, management as corrupt as the unions .

Into your tardis and move to the USA 2009 , dejavu .

The american car industry will fall just like the UK , trouble is it will take the OZ industry with it , which is sad .

The euro and asian giants will have no interset in buying the brand names this time , no need to , there credibility is stuffed .

By: RoFlmaTiC

RoFlmaTiC — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:26:58 +0000

Well off course Ford are going to try to put on a brave face to the market to avoid its share price tumbling.

But what they say will happen and what does happen are different things. Their predicted loss per share for Q4 was a little over $1. It turned out to be $2.46!

Although Ford might seem to be financially strong to have 23 b of liquidity in hand, the truth is that this 4th quarter loss now puts Ford’s asset / liability deficit up at around 8 billion dollars. This makes every share worth about negative $3.50!

Though that’s tiny when compared to GM’s whopping $-100 dollars per share

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:53:17 +0000

RoFlmaTiC,
thats if the cash burn rate remains at that level.
if you did do further reasearch or just read the article you are commenting on, you would see that the burn rate will be much lower this year.

No one has really gotten into what caused the excessive burn rate nor why the predicted burn rate will be much better.
A true balance sheet needs to be seen for the reasons as to why such predictions have been set

By: RoFlmaTiC

RoFlmaTiC — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:20:19 +0000

I have done plenty of research on GM / F / TM Adam; it seems you have not if you continue to be in denial over Fords financial position.

It’s shaky even on the best estimates. It has cash reserves of 13 billion, and that line of credit you mentioned adds a further 10 billion.

So at this rate Ford will run out of money at the end of the year, unless the global economy picks up by then. Last time I checked, economists were not predicting a ressurgency until at least the middle of 2010.

If you are so optimistic about Fords future I encourage you to put money into Ford shares which are trading at their lowest levels (when adjusted for inflation) in decades.

By: Adam (aka Mada)

Adam (aka Mada) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:33:24 +0000

Research the issue then come back…

By: RoFlmaTiC

RoFlmaTiC — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:48:06 +0000

You really think a 1.7 billion dollar loss over 1 year for a company worth 100 billion (Toyota) is comparable to a 5.5 billion dollar loss over 3 months for a company worth 4.4 billion (Ford) Frontman?

By: Frontman

Frontman — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:20:31 +0000

Anyone who was shocked about this report or thinks it’s the beginning of the end, should have a wider look at the industry. Those masters of ??making money / creative accounting?? have even admitted they made a loss last year. Actually if you look at the figures, Ford’s last qaurter and YTD result for ‘08 versus ‘07, compared to Toyota and a few others, aren’t that bad. It’s just that both years were losses for Ford. As opposed to a large proffit & then a large loss.

By: Garry

Garry — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:32:44 +0000

I know send thses people who dont know what there doing to South Korea and they can get shown how to run a car company Hyundai/Kia could show not just Ford but other car companies as they all seem to be in trouble.Global sales for H/K and profits are growing.

By: birdie

birdie — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:39:38 +0000

Heading for extinction , get your head out of it . their not the only ones having a hard time

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:24:36 +0000

Rack and Pinion – read Frugal Ones comment again…. he said Its only a matter of time before FORD puts its snout in the trough.

Which means that although they don’t have their snouts in the trough at the moment…. he expects them to join GM and Chrysler who have already received US Gummint support.

By: Marcus

Marcus — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:49:42 +0000

At this rate Ford will be hitting the soups kitchen with GM and Chrysler…..

By: adam (aka mada)

adam (aka mada) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:25:33 +0000

I get such a laugh with these forum sometimes…

Is Ford the only auto company feeling the pinch at the moment?

ummm no.

F-O please explain Toyota’s first loss in it’s history and how they are accepting various goverment incentives in parts of the globe.

Ford US is running on it’s own cash, they planned a line of credit 2 years ago.

By: Rack and Pinion

Rack and Pinion — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:40:43 +0000

Frugal one …….what Fed loan did Ford get? NONE!! They still have liquidity and will try not to access loans. Only GM and Chrysler have got loans from US Gov. Get your facts right……

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:05:09 +0000

Heading for extinction. All those working in Ford should start looking for another job, or risk unemployment.

By: Joober@Work

Joober@Work — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:12:56 +0000

“Small to medium size cars are the future… ” – Only if people stop being obese and kids stop growing taller and bigger each generation…

By: FRUGAL_ONE

FRUGAL_ONE — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:57:50 +0000

JOHN^^^

Its only a matter of time before FORD puts its snout in the trough.

They are doing it tough, like all the others.

Cheers

F-0

By: Aussie

Aussie — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:30:20 +0000

Small to medium size cars are the future…

By: John

John — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:18:22 +0000

Hi F-0,
Ford doesn’t have any GovCo hand out.

By: FRUGAL_ONE

FRUGAL_ONE — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:05:43 +0000

*****PRIMO!*****

Looks like the GovCo hand out aint going to last that long….

I think that is enough, send them into Chapter-11, why should the auto-industry get special treatment, when small mun-n-dad and other buinesses are going bust.

Said it before and say it again, they have THEMSELVES to blame 100%, building overpriced s*hit that nobody wants to buy anyway.

Ford and GM = TheEnd.

C is saved by FIAT, maybe someother company can save FORD and GM, should NOT be the GovCo.

Cheers

F-0