Ford Car Talk » Financial

Ford sales figures rise for the first time in 19 months

Jeff — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:01:11 +0000

As sales reports come in this August, the auto industry is expected to report not more than 10 million sold units. Ford recently announced that its total sales are up by 2% and year-on-year jumped by as much as 9%. The improvement in the performance is partly attributed to the government’s Cash for Clunkers program.

The numbers of Ford looks solid and a lot of experts want to be as optimistic as possible to see a turnaround for the whole of the auto industry.

The 9% increase in retail sales from August 2008 to this year marks the first recovery of the figures since November 2007. Aside from citing the CARS, Ford also looks to the new and more fuel efficient members of their fleet.

What gives perspective to the jump up in sales figures is the projected 10 million units rolling out of dealerships. The volume prediction is about a 40% drop from the 2008 figures. The overall figure is seen to have risen 2% from the November 2007 sales reports.

The fleet leaders which brought about the turnaround is the Ford Fusion up by as much as 66%, Ford Escape (94%), Mercury Mariner improved by 71%, and Mercury Milan (60%). The hybrid vehicle of Ford unsurprisingly brought a 323% performance magic for the gas-electric units. Fuel efficiency and green cars are key words in today’s car market!

Ford was able to leverage the cash for clunkers program with appropriate preparations of their products and dealers. The car manufacturer was able to get the increase in sales even though they cut off some spending for consumer incentives.

The month of July also marked the roll out of the Transit Connect and the Ford Taurus.

Ford Reports Net Loss of $2.8 Billion in 4Q 2008

Jeff — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:42:11 +0000

Ford Motor Co. struggles in the fourth quarter of 2008 without any help from the federal government. The company burned through funds amounting to $5.5 billion in the last stretch of the previous year.

The car manufacturer finished 2008 with a $13.4 billion cash reserves. Ford will be drawing down available credit lines of $10.1 billion to address concerns on the rocky global economy.

Ford files a net loss amounting to $5.9 billion for the 4th quarter of 2008 compared to a year over year $2.5 billion. The car manufacturer closes 2008 as its third year of not earning any profits. Pretax operation loss was recorded on their books at $3.7 billion compared to $620 million in 2007.

The whole of the auto industry faced an unusual major slowdown in markets all over the globe recorded during the last three months.

Economist estimates the needs of Ford to stand at $10 billion to keep its operations running. Looking at its trend of burn rate, Ford without doing anything, can only survive until the end of February. The car manufacturer is expected to deplete its funds slower this year though.

Ford explains that they have enough liquidity to keep everything on a healthy level. Without any cash expenditures this January, the company will have a reserve of $26 billion.

The revenue of Ford dropped significantly by 36%. Its total income for the 2008 4Q is $29.2 billion amid the US recession.

Ford asked for a government bail out aid of $9 billion in December but declared that it will only use the funds when the economy further drops.

Ford Sells Controls Over Mazda

Jeff — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:05:22 +0000

Last Tuesday, automobile giant Ford announced that the company had sold 13% of their Mazda shares. Because of the said sale, the company is now richer by $540 million.

The sale of Ford Mazda stocks also meant an important landmark in the history of the automobile industry—Ford is letting Mazda out of its reigns after twelve years of full control. Ford took over the said Japanese brand since 1979 but the company wasn’t able to immediately establish full control.

With the diminished power that Ford has now over Mazda, CEO Hisazaku Imaki immediately passed Mazda’s reigns to purchasing head Takashi Yamanouchi. The new successor was reported to have been with Mazda for over forty years.

Mazda’s spokeswoman, Yukari Hara, said that the sell off entails that Mazda has once again been a Japanese company. A report said that the Ford shares were actually bought by Mazda’s Japanese stockholders.

In a statement release by Ford, CEO Allan Mullay said that the funds gained from the sell off will be used in the company’s operating funds for brand improvements.

Despite the sale, Ford reiterated that the company still remains a Mazda’s largest shareholder. As a proof of this statement, Philip Spender, Ford’s Executive to the Mazda’s board, would still remain as the company’s Executive Vice-President.

Meanwhile, two of Ford’s executive to the Mazda board were replaced by the Japanese brand’s own homegrown officers. Mazda maintained that the changes in leadership will not affect the company’s strategic direction.

Both Ford and Mazda agreed that the two companies would still continue their relationship as business partners.