Ford Market News

[kscarbel2]

Ford Hints at Raising More Cash After Burning Through Billions

Keith Naughton, Bloomberg  /  April 13, 2020

Ford Motor Co. is considering additional financing actions as a global pandemic heaps more pressure onto earnings that already were slumping before the coronavirus forced plant and showroom closures around the globe.

The carmaker said Monday it’s expecting to report a loss later this month and that it had roughly $30 billion in cash on its balance sheet as of April 9. The comments suggest the company has used about $8 billion since the end of last year, Joel Levington a Bloomberg Intelligence credit analyst, wrote in a report.

CEO Jim Hackett already has suspended the dividend prized by Ford’s founding family and drew $15.4 billion from two credit lines last month to help weather months of uncertainty over when it can resume manufacturing and selling vehicles. The automaker may now stockpile even more cash to get through the crisis.

“We continue to opportunistically assess all funding options to further strengthen our balance sheet and increase liquidity to optimize our financial flexibility,” Tim Stone, Ford’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. “We also are identifying additional operating actions to enhance our cash position.”

Ford shares fell as much as 6.1% to $5.04 in intraday trading. The stock is down about 45% this year, trailing General Motors Co.’s 37% decline.

One way Ford could boost funding is by tapping the U.S. asset-backed securities market, said Levington, the BI analyst. While a new primary deal hasn’t priced since March 11, activity may restart this week based on recent filings from other issuers. The return of the Federal Reserve’s Term Asset Backed Securities Loan Facility should aid in a revival, but it’s unclear when the program will be operational.

Ford said it believes it has sufficient cash now to last through at least the third quarter, even if it doesn’t resume production or take additional financing actions.

The carmaker is building up its cash pile at a less opportune time than it did before the last global financial crisis. In 2006, before the mortgage market collapsed and lending dried up, Ford lined up $23 billion in loans that allowed it to avoid the bankruptcies and bailouts that befell its crosstown rivals GM and Chrysler. As collateral to obtain the loans, the automaker put up all its assets, including the Ford brand name.

Ford expects its first quarter adjusted loss to be about $600 million before interest and taxes, the company said about two weeks before it’s scheduled the release of earnings. The $34 billion revenue Ford anticipates for the period would be down about 16% from a year ago.

[kscarbel2]

Ford expects coronavirus shutdown to cause $600 million quarterly loss

Reuters  /  April 13, 2020

Ford Motor Co said on Monday it expects to post a pre-tax loss of about $600 million for the first quarter as the coronavirus outbreak pummeled its sales and shuttered vehicle assembly plants, resulting in a 21% drop in vehicle sales to dealers versus the same quarter in 2019.

The news sent Ford’s shares down more than 5% in morning trading.

Only Ford’s joint ventures in China, where the COVID-19 pandemic has been receding, are currently producing vehicles. The automaker said it is working on a scenario for a phased restart of its manufacturing plants beginning in the second quarter.

“However, we believe we have sufficient cash today to get us through at least the end of the third quarter with no incremental vehicle production and wholesales or financing actions,” Chief Financial Officer Tim Stone said in a statement.

Asked whether Ford would apply for loans from the U.S. government or the Federal Reserve to sustain its operations for longer if needed, a spokesman for the automaker said that unlike during the Great Recession - when financing dried up - there is still plenty of liquidity in the capital markets.

“We have a broad range of options” for obtaining additional financing if needed, the spokesman said.

As of April 9, Ford said it had about $30 billion in cash on its balance sheet, including $15.4 billion it borrowed last month against two existing credit lines.

Ford said any decisions on restarting its plants will be made “in cooperation with local unions, suppliers, dealers and other stakeholders.”

In March, the company shuttered plants in North America and Europe due to the spreading pandemic.

Earlier this month, the No. 2 U.S. automaker said its first-quarter U.S. sales had fallen 12.5% during the quarter. The U.S. market, with its highly profitable pickup truck and SUV segments, generates the overwhelming majority of Ford’s profits.

Ford’s U.S. sales chief Mark LaNeve said on April 2 that Ford believes some level of government stimulus will be needed for American consumers once the COVID-19 pandemic recedes.

Ford said it expects its first-quarter adjusted loss before interest and taxes to be about $600 million, compared with a profit of $2.4 billion a year ago.

The company said it expects to report revenue of about $34 billion for the quarter.

In morning trade, Ford shares were down 30 cents, or 5.6%, at $5.09.

[kscarbel2]

Ford broadens medical production, using airbag material for medical gowns

Nick Bunkley, Automotive News  /  April 13, 2020

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. is expanding its unexpected foray into medical-supply manufacturing to include production of respirators, face masks and reusable gowns made from airbag material. It also is helping to increase production of collection kits used to test patients for COVID-19.

The automaker said it has started making face masks at a transmission plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., and will begin assembling respirators Tuesday near its Mustang plant in Flat Rock, Michigan. Ford initially will pay about 120 UAW-represented workers who have volunteered for the assignments and expects to add 50 more workers as production of the face masks increases.

Ford also is working with airbag supplier Joyson Safety Systems to make reusable gowns for health care workers and helping Thermo Fisher Scientific increase production of COVID-19 test collection kits. Joyson expects to cut and sew 100,000 gowns a week starting next week, for a total of 1.3 million gowns by July 4.

The gowns use a coated, nylon-based material normally used for Ford airbags that is well-suited for protecting health care workers from COVID-19.

"This was really a great find, that we could take something we already knew how to produce and turn it into isolation gowns, and they are washable," Marcy Fisher, Ford's director of body exterior and interior engineering, said on a conference call Monday.

The face masks will be for internal use at Ford facilities around the world, including plant workers after the company is able to resume vehicle production. Ford also is seeking certification for medical use.

Ford said it expects to make at least 100,000 powered air-purifying respirators, which have a hood and face shield to cover medical professionals' head and shoulders. The company worked with 3M to design the respirators in less than four weeks. Ford and 3M plan to donate any profits from the respirators to charities related to COVID-19 treatment.

Ford helped Thermo Fisher set up additional machinery that will triple production of collection kits starting April 20.

Ford also has been making face shields for several weeks in Plymouth, Michigan. As of Monday, it has made more than 3 million of them.

[RoadwayR]

Look at this:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/ford-announces-transformation-plan-for-future-production/

Pay particular attention to the paragraph about Ted Cannis's duties.  Get past the holistic B.S. and what is that about 'improve alignment with potential partners' ???

My guess is this won't end well..........

 

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by RoadwayR

[Red Horse]

1 hour ago, RoadwayR said:

Look at this:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/ford-announces-transformation-plan-for-future-production/

Pay particular attention to the paragraph about Ted Cannis's duties.  Get past the holistic B.S. and what is that about 'improve alignment with potential partners' ???

My guess is this won't end well..........

 

 

Is  this what you are saying  won't end well???......This new business aligns functional areas to deliver holistic customer solutions and optimizes operations to improve alignment with potential partners .  

Perhaps you are right.  Unfortunately in the age of  "Hackett speak" you just can't escape buzzwords.  I'm hopeful it refers to alignments with perhaps those who provide further integration with maybe load sharing, dispatch centralization , stuff like that.

One thing that will show promise is the fact that two regional guys for commercial truck, one North America, one Europe will be reporting to the same guy.  Maybe we will see some further  reliance on Ford Otosan who for quite a while now has been referred to  as "Fords heavy truck design center" or some similar description.  So  far seems like we have never seen evidence of that in the US..Maybe that will change for the better.

One frequent poster here who is a Ford annuitant has frequently said an assignment to commercial trucks is the kiss of death as far a career path is concerned.  The fact that commercial vehicles is featured in  this announcement says that perhaps that is not the case for sure.

[RoadwayR]

I was speaking in more general terms of the whole reorganization.  I can't say that I had much confidence in Hackett in the beginning, and as time has gone on even less so.  He came up with all this in just 10 weeks?  Looks like it took 10 minutes.  What has he doing for the rest of the time he as been there?  I am not too familiar with how Ford of Europe is structured, but I believe that Hans Schep ran the commercial operations of FoE (read he managed the 'Transit' brand over there, in which he did a good job).  I have been under the impression Otosan governs themselves and isn't really under the FoE umbrella (kscarbel correct me if I am wrong). 

It's a little tough to read these manifestos, they are pretty vague beyond the new executive assignments.  It sounds to me like Ford is at least considering some kind of partner for commercial truck operations, what exactly that means as far as vehicle lines or markets is anyone's guess at this point.  Would Otosan be considered a partner or part of Ford's commercial operations is also a great question

     

[Maxidyne]

Might be a recognition that the Transit has become almost as big a franchise as the F series, especially with COVID-19 increasing demand for last mile delivery services. As for "partnering", VW and Ford don't have  a lot of overlap in their product lines...

[kscarbel2]

Ford warns of large surprise loss and revenue miss

MarketWatch  /  April 17, 2020

Ford warned Friday of a large surprise loss and a revenue miss.

Ford expects to report a first-quarter net loss of about $2 billion. The consensus was for net income of $278.3 million.

Ford said revenue is expected to be about $34 billion, below the consensus of $35.4 billion.

Ford said it plans to report first-quarter results, as well as estimates on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business, on April 28.

[kscarbel2]

Ford targets May 4 for Kentucky Truck Plant restart

Michael Martinez, Automotive News  /  April 16, 2020

DETROIT -- Ford is joining other automakers and suppliers by targeting May 4 to restart assembly lines in at least one U.S. plant, according to a union official.

In a letter to members, Kentucky Truck Plant chairman Allen Hughes said Ford planned to reopen its Louisville facility on a two-shift, Monday-Thursday pattern, although he noted "this is not finalized and is very tentative."

It was unclear whether Ford was targeting a May 4 restart for all U.S. plants, or if it was specific to Kentucky Truck. A Ford spokeswoman on Thursday said there were no updates to announce beyond its previous announcement that production would be delayed indefinitely.

May 4 is also the date of U.S. plant reopenings at Fiat Chrysler, Honda, Hyundai, Volvo and Toyota and supplier Magna International Inc., as the industry seeks to begin recovery from the coronavirus pandemic that has halted production, closed dealer showrooms and stymied sales demand.

Magna President Swamy Kotagiri expressed concern in an interview with Reuters that the industry avoid false starts.

"The most important thing is, how can we as an industry coordinate and minimize the start-stops?" he said. "If someone comes and says, 'It's not May 4, it's May 10.' That's OK. It's easy to deal with. But if somebody comes and says to start on the 4th and we stop again on the 12th, that's a bigger problem."

Hughes said Ford is planning safety measures for its restart. At least eight UAW members at Ford plants have died from coronavirus-related issues, the union has said.

"The company's plans are wide-ranging and have been changing daily, partly due to the changes to the coronavirus guidelines" from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said.

Those plans could include buzzing wristbands that would alert workers when they're within 6 feet of each other. Ford this week announced it would begin face mask production at its Van Dyke Transmission plant and would provide masks to all of its factory workers.

[kscarbel2]

Ford's logistics team scrambles to launch protective gear output

Michael Martinez, Automotive News  /  April 19, 2020

DETROIT — Ford's pivot from transmissions to face masks at a Michigan plant began with an executive's late-night text to a colleague. It quickly morphed into a complex, intercontinental scramble to secure and ship machinery and materials — which was nearly thwarted by a flock of unfortunate birds.

It's the stuff of a Hollywood action thriller, even for a century-old automaker that has done logistical backflips in recent years to keep vehicle production from being disrupted by supplier fires and complex plant renovations.

"We have an amazing logistics team," said Adrian Price, director of global core engineering for vehicle manufacturing. "When we have issues, that team just swings into action, and they're able to work magic."

Ford's decision to mass-produce face masks at its Van Dyke Transmission Plant north of Detroit is part of a larger effort to make medical equipment for health care workers and COVID-19 patients. But in addition to helping hospitals fight the coronavirus outbreak, the endeavor aims to make enough masks to protect Ford's own factory workers to facilitate safely restarting vehicle production.

The idea came from China, where employees at joint venture Changan Ford had begun making masks for workers there. Price learned of the mask production March 24, a few days after being named manufacturing lead for Ford's Project Apollo, an ad hoc scramble to build ventilators, respirators and plastic face shields in the U.S.

He shot a text to colleagues in China one evening on WeChat, asking about the feasibility of face mask production in the U.S. as well. A half-hour later, he was on the phone with a number of officials, including the CEO of Ford Taiwan, as Changan Ford had obtained its mask-making machines there.

By the time Price woke up the next morning, the team in China had located the necessary equipment: 10 machines, roughly 20 to 25 feet long, each capable of rolling out 100,000 masks a day. Ford had the first two available machines quickly delivered to its Lio Ho Motor Co. joint-venture plant in Taiwan. The machines were then trucked to the closest airport, and they arrived at the Michigan plant March 31, along with some initial material.

Ford chose the plant, which supplies the Explorer, Escape and other vehicles, because of its Class A clean room designed for handling delicate transmission parts. The equipment was up and running by April 3 — but not for long.

Face masks are made up of six different materials: an inner layer, a filter, an outer layer, a soft metal nose piece, ear straps and side hemming. As Ford was coordinating the machine deliveries, it was simultaneously searching for a supplier with material available in bulk. It found one in Shanghai.

With no commercially available way to transport the fabric to the U.S., Ford planned to fly it over on a Boeing 747, one of 22 planes its logistics team had chartered from China to the U.S. in February, when the virus was beginning to spread, for future flights.

But shortly after the jet took off from Shanghai, it struck a flock of birds and lost an engine, forcing the pilot to return to the airport. The next flight out wasn't for another week.

"I was really worried," Price said. "My concern was that we'd be sitting here having done all this work in such a short time and not be able to run the machines because we didn't have material. Once you lose a 747, it's hard to find a replacement."

But that's exactly what Frank Mosquera, Ford's behind-the-scenes logistics whiz, did. Within five hours, according to Price, Mosquera's team located a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flight from Shanghai to Columbus, Ohio. After quick negotiations, FEMA officials agreed to make room for Ford's cargo, and the masks were en route.

By the time the plane touched down in Columbus, Ford had a helicopter ready to ferry the material for the final 90-minute leg of its journey, directly to the plant.

Since then, Ford Taiwan sent workers to speed production of the other eight machines at the supplier making them. They have been able to pull ahead delivery by multiple days. Ford expected to have almost all of the machines up and running by early this week.

Price said Van Dyke Transmission should be able to produce millions of masks per week, each stamped with the script Ford wordmark.

"One of the powers of Ford is our ability to bring together incredibly talented professionals in all these fields to work together as one Ford," Price said. "That's the embodiment of everything we do from a culture standpoint. It makes me feel tremendously proud of our team."

[kscarbel2]

Tornado damaged BorgWarner plant may disrupt Ford output

Bloomberg  /  April 17, 2020

Ford is warning of significant damage wreaked by a tornado in South Carolina this week that knocked out a BorgWarner auto parts plant supplying a key component for the automaker’s most profitable models.

The Seneca, S.C., parts factory makes transfer cases, an important component of four-wheel-drive systems that Ford uses in its F-150 pickup, its biggest moneymaker, as well profitable SUVs such as the Explorer and Lincoln Navigator, the automaker said Friday in a securities filing.

“We do not have sufficient information to estimate when the facility will be back online or whether, or the extent to which, this incident will impact our plans to resume production of four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles,” Ford said.

BorgWarner’s plant, one of its largest drivetrain manufacturing facilities, was struck by a tornado on April 13 and the company said it’s still assessing the extent of the damage. “Currently, the time to resume operations, partially or in full, cannot be estimated,” the parts maker said in its own filing Thursday.

.

 

[Maxidyne]

Another shining example of why Just In Time inventory and single sourcing is an unacceptable risk in a huge country with an active climate like this.

[kscarbel2]

Ford to pay nearly 10% on new debt to plug losses

Financial Times  /  April 17, 2020

Ford is set to pay interest rates of almost 10 percent to access the bond market, as the US carmaker raises cash it needs to ride out a global economic shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ford launched an $8 billion fundraising on Friday, after telling investors it expects to post a $2 billion loss in the first quarter on $34 billion in revenue.

With most of Ford’s plants around the world shuttered and consumers in many markets unable to get to car dealerships, the results reflect a sharp contraction. In the first quarter of 2019, the company reported net income of $1.1 billion on $40 billion in revenue.

Ford, which was stripped of its investment-grade credit rating last month, had indicated early on Friday that it was willing to pay yields as high as 11 percent on the new debt.

But the offering drew $20 billion of orders within the first two hours, and the strong demand meant it was able to cut the yields substantially from early indications.

Ford is set pay a 9.625 percent yield on $1 billion of 10-year debt. It is also issuing $3.5 billion of five-year bonds yielding 9 percent and $3.5 billion of three-year debt yielding 8.5 percent.

Ford was able to raise five-year bonds at an interest rate of just 3.5 percent in February, meaning its funding costs have more than doubled in a matter of months. The last time the carmaker had to pay such onerous rates to raise debt was in the depths of the financial crisis in 2008, when it paid 18 percent to access the market.

Ford carries a junk rating from agencies Moody’s and S&P, but its bonds are still eligible for the Federal Reserve’s corporate bond buying scheme. The US central bank announced that it would buy corporate bonds that were rated investment-grade on March 22, before the carmaker lost its prized upper-tier credit rating.

Ford was already struggling to realise the benefits of a global restructuring that began in 2018 before the pandemic hit, and had disappointed investors and analysts with previous quarterly earnings.

Meeting consensus earnings expectations no longer matters, however, according to Morningstar equity analyst David Whiston. “At this point the only thing that matters is survival,” he wrote in a note to clients.

The only Ford factories that are producing and selling cars to dealers right now are at its joint ventures in China, where the virus first took hold and the economy is now reopening.

Ford sold 516,330 cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles in North America between January and March, a decrease of nearly 13 per cent from a year earlier. In China, the number of vehicles sold dropped 35 per cent to 88,770 vehicles, but sales began to recover in March. 

Ford plans to restart its manufacturing plants and supply network sometime in the second quarter. Ford has $30 billion in cash on its balance sheet, which chief financial officer Tim Stone said is “sufficient . . . to get us through at least the end of the third quarter with no incremental vehicle production and wholesales or financing actions”.

Mr Whiston estimated that, prior to the bond issue, the company had enough cash to last about six months. Ford raised more than $15bn of cash last month by drawing down on credit facilities with banks.

[Red Horse]

1 hour ago, Maxidyne said:

Another shining example of why Just In Time inventory and single sourcing is an unacceptable risk in a huge country with an active climate like this.

As I watched the video my first thought was..."so much for Kanban".  Wonderful theory and a true cost savings- until your distribution system fails to get the goods to you or your source is out of business.  I would imagine the key will be how much of the machinery IN the plant is junk?  

[Red Horse]

Just saw this on BON site-...

Ford-owned equipment to make the parts was not “materially damaged” by the tornado, but neither Ford nor BorgWarner could say when production would be resumed. Ford closed all of its U.S. factories about a month ago due to the coronavirus outbreak.

[Maxidyne]

4 hours ago, Red Horse said:

As I watched the video my first thought was..."so much for Kanban".  Wonderful theory and a true cost savings- until your distribution system fails to get the goods to you or your source is out of business.  I would imagine the key will be how much of the machinery IN the plant is junk?  

The KanBan JIT concept works in Japan where the factories are fairly close together, but not so well here where factories can be thousands of miles apart. I can remember the St.Paul Ford plant shutting down for days because a trailer load of dashboards went in the ditch in Indiana...

[Maxidyne]

Thanks for posting the article on Ford's increasing debt- With Ford paying 8-9% interest rates, it would make more sense for them to raise capital by cutting prices and selling off the half million vehicles in stock instead of paying those high interest rates so they can offer 0% financing!

[kscarbel2]

Ford's new North America chief targets 10% margins

Michael Martinez, Automotive News  /  April 20, 2020

DETROIT — Lisa Drake guided the launch of Ford's most profitable vehicle, the F-150 pickup, when the Dearborn Truck Plant opened in 2004.

Starting next month, as Ford's new North America COO, Drake will be tasked with guiding the automaker back to double-digit margins in its most profitable business region.

Drake, 47, was promoted to the newly created role last week as part of a shakeup of Ford's North American leadership team aimed at improving operational execution. Drake, who will retain her previous duties as vice president of global purchasing, will report to Kumar Galhotra, who is now Ford's president of the Americas and the International Markets Group.

Ford says Drake will "bring enhanced focus to product launches, warranty cost reduction and material cost improvements."

Those areas were weaknesses last year that led to a disappointing fourth quarter and dinged the company's full-year profits.

She also will lead Ford's charge to increase its North American operating margin to 10 percent. Ford has used "return to 10" as a rallying cry in recent years but has not put a time frame on when it might accomplish that goal.

Drake joined Ford in 1994 after earning a mechanical engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon University. She has worked on product development teams for the Lincoln MKC and Navigator and the Ford Ranger, Explorer, Expedition and Super Duty, as well as some of Ford's early hybrid vehicles, including the Fusion, MKZ and C-Max. She led development of the Focus Electric and Transit Connect Electric.

"There's something that gets in your blood when you work at Ford," she says. "The funny thing was, between the truck and hybrid team, it's the same feeling — the feeling that you're working on these products that are so distinctly designed to help people in their work and in their lives."

In 2004, Drake led the product and launch team for the 11th-generation F-150 during construction of the Dearborn Truck Plant at the Ford Rouge Center.

"I got an appreciation of what it takes for the manufacturing arm to build a plant, train a work force and make trucks every minute," she said.

Drake joined Ford's purchasing team in 2013 and was named vice president of global purchasing in 2017. In that role, Drake is responsible for all management procurement functions.

Ford COO Jim Farley has praised Drake, noting that the purchasing team was under added pressure to save money as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We are moving with a renewed sense of urgency to improve the fitness of the business and improve our launches, while at the same time modernizing Ford in a way that plays to our strengths," Farley said last week. "That means putting the right team of global leaders in place, streamlining the way we work, embracing the power of connectivity, data and AI, and turning our leadership in commercial vehicles into a dedicated growth business."

In addition to Drake, Ford promoted Ted Cannis, who previously led the Team Edison autonomous and electric vehicle unit that produced the Mustang Mach-E, to a new position of general manager of commercial vehicles for the U.S. and Canada.

The automaker also hired Gil Gur Arie, a retired colonel from the Israeli Military Intelligence Corps, to work in data insight and analytics, and beefed up the team surrounding Hau Thai-Tang, its chief product development and purchasing officer. The changes are all effective May 1.

.

[Maxidyne]

What drugs are Ford leadership on?

Seeing the pandemic coming I sold a bunch of stocks and have enough cash lying around to buy any Ford short of the GT, cash. Instead of offering me a healthy discount for cash, Ford offers me 0% financing while they're borrowing money at 8-9%! And as sales drop to 20% of normal volume, that 100 day supply of new vehicles Ford and their dealers are carrying is now over a years supply, then add to that $30B or so of inventory all the loans Ford Finance is carrying... Maybe Ford is "bulking up" on $$$ for "golden parachutes" when the bankruptcy gets officially filed?

Or is Ford management too stoned to pull even that off? 

[Red Horse]

3 hours ago, Maxidyne said:

What drugs are Ford leadership on?

Seeing the pandemic coming I sold a bunch of stocks and have enough cash lying around to buy any Ford short of the GT, cash. Instead of offering me a healthy discount for cash, Ford offers me 0% financing while they're borrowing money at 8-9%! And as sales drop to 20% of normal volume, that 100 day supply of new vehicles Ford and their dealers are carrying is now over a years supply, then add to that $30B or so of inventory all the loans Ford Finance is carrying... Maybe Ford is "bulking up" on $$$ for "golden parachutes" when the bankruptcy gets officially filed?

Or is Ford management too stoned to pull even that off? 

uh Maxi-you forget, that the smartest marketing guy when it comes to cars-Mr Farley - is now top dog, reporting to  the guy that saved that icon of heavy manufacturing Steelcase.

[kscarbel2]

Ford expects $5 billion operating loss in Q2

Michael Martinez, Automotive News  /  April 28, 2020

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. expects an operating loss of more than $5 billion in the second quarter as the financial toll of the coronavirus crisis continues to worsen.

The automaker said Tuesday that it lost $632 million before interest and taxes in the first quarter, although it made $346 million before interest and taxes in North America. That came despite shuttering U.S. assembly plants for the final two weeks of the quarter.

CFO Tim Stone said if the coronavirus crisis had not occurred Ford was tracking to post $1.4 billion or more in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes.

Ford in the first quarter lost money in every region outside of North America, including a $241 million loss in China, which was the first region impacted by the virus.

Ford Credit made $30 million in the quarter, down $771 million from the same period a year ago.

Ford’s mobility unit lost $300 million in the quarter as the automaker announced it would postpone the launch of its autonomous vehicle commercial services until 2022.

Stone said Ford had $35 billion in cash as of April 24 and that he believed it had sufficient cash to get it through the end of the year “with no additional vehicle wholesales or financing actions.”

"Our objective is not just to withstand the crisis, we’re ensuring the flexibility to continue to invest in our future,” Stone said on a conference call with journalists.

Ford CEO Jim Hackett and other executives noted Ford remained on track with its global redesign plans despite the coronavirus and that the team would continue putting money into “growth opportunities.”

The operating loss and $2 billion net loss Ford posted Tuesday were in line with the preliminary results it reported in a regulatory filing April 17.

The company said Tuesday that it still can't provide full-year guidance because "today's economic environment remains too ambiguous."

Ford's U.S. vehicle sales fell 12 percent in the first quarter, with most of the damage coming in late March as the pandemic swept across the country. The automaker on March 18 agreed to close all of its U.S. factories to protect workers and help stop the spread of the virus.

Stone refused Tuesday to offer a timeframe on reopening Ford’s U.S. assembly plants, although it plans a phased reopening of European facilities beginning May 4.  The Wall Street Journal on Monday reported the Detroit 3 automakers are targeting May 18 to reopen plants in the U.S., although all three automakers said no decision has been made. 

[Maxidyne]

Interesting that it was largely the Fed that bought up that $8B in Ford Bonds at 9%... Where's the logic in borrowing at 9% so Ford can offer 0% financing? Then again, to bankers that probably makes sense, and maybe they're calling the shots at Ford now?

[kscarbel2]

 

[Red Horse]

12 hours ago, kscarbel2 said:

 

Good job---no Hackettspeak!

[Maxidyne]

Looks like the crisis has brought Hackett back to reality. As long as he's lucid, he can:

1. Bring back the full line of trucks up to class 8.

2. Keep at least two lines of cars available in North America, Maybe a Focus sized with transverse powertrain and a return of the AU Falcon, both available with AWD and wagon variants.

3. Next generation Mustang returns to the size and weight of the original with aluminum/composite body, Ecoboost 4 and V6 engines,  AWD options, and 'Vette C8 beating performance for $10k less.

4. Mothball the electric "Mustang" until there's actually a demand for it.

5. Lose the subsidized 0% interest and cut prices to make Ford vehicles competitive. Instead of building $50k pickups that sit on the lot for 3 months before selling for $30k, give the customers what they want in a well equipped $30k pickup that's sold before it rolls off the assembly line.