
How Ford Avoided the Meltdown that Hit GM, Chrysler - vaksel
http://www.cnbc.com/id/30134908
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Flemlord
Summary: They got lucky.

They were doing so bad in late-2006 (in an economic boom) that they were
forced to leverage the entire company to raise capital for restructuring. So
they had $23 billion in cash when the market for automobiles collapsed 18
months later. The only reason they didn't get government bailout money was
because they'd just had a private bailout.

If you recall, Ford went to Congress for a bailout just like the others. They
didn't let the fact that they didn't need the money stop them from lining up
at the trough alongside GM and Chrysler. One can only assume their sole reason
for dropping out was realizing the billions on their balance sheet would
disqualify them from receiving funds.

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philwelch
I don't know if it's that simple. Ford didn't ask for the bailout after all,
probably because they realized how much leverage it would give the government
over their operations. You know how startup founders are wary about giving
VC's too much control over their business? I'd imagine automakers (especially
Ford, which is still largely a family business) are just as wary about giving
the government too much control over their business. And, unlike GM and
Chrysler, Ford has the good fortune to be a good ways away from bankruptcy
(though from a business standpoint, bankruptcy would still be better than
nationalization).

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softbuilder
Clearly the Mr. Mullaly is a 9th degree Mason and had advance notice that the
economy was being taken into recession by the Pentaverate.

EDIT: So humor isn't a valuable contribution to the discussion? Now I'm sad.
:(

