“In the financial report, Ford said that it took $8.0 billion in special charges to write off the value of troubled assets — including a $5.30 billion charge for Ford North America. The North American unit posted a $1.3 billion pre-tax loss in the quarter compared with a $270 million loss during the same period a year ago.” Ford said it will produce small cars and double output of fuel-saving engines as record gasoline prices sap U.S. truck sales. “Every number was close, but every number was on the wrong side, on the negative side,” said Dan Poole, vice president of equity research at Cleveland-based National City Corp.
Ford had $26.6 billion in automotive cash at the end of the quarter, down $10.8 billion from a year earlier. The F-150 slide has contributed to a 24 percent industrywide decline in full-sized pickup sales this year. Ford also announced that the next-generation Ford Explorer midsize SUV will come out in 2010 and be built on car underpinnings, making it more fuel efficient than the current truck-based model. And it announced it will build a seven-passenger car-based crossover vehicle for Lincoln in mid-2009.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)
