Z71_Denali Posted May 14, 2012 Posted May 14, 2012 Blue Ops: The Clandestine Bailout Of Ford | The Truth About Cars GM and Chrysler weren't the only ones that needed help!
AngryPolska Posted May 14, 2012 Posted May 14, 2012 This is such old news it's not even funny. Unfortunately, not to most Ford lovers though. They will deny it until they're blue in the face. I think it's pretty deceiving of Ford to tout their whole "We didn't take bailout funds from the government" while the whole time, they actually did.
70'sChevyGirl Posted May 14, 2012 Posted May 14, 2012 This was from our Local Paper from January 19, 2012: DEARBORN, Mich. -- "Ford Motor Co. is showing confidence in its turnaround and the U.S. economy by giving pay raises and bonuses to 20,000 white-collar workers mainly in the U.S. and Canada. Workers got letters from President of the Americas Mark Fields last week saying they'll get 2.7 percent base pay increases on April 1. They'll also get bonuses this year based on their individual performances, spokeswoman Marcey Evans said. Ford made $6.6 billion in the first three quarters of last year. It will report fourth-quarter earnings later this month. The company's U.S. sales rose 11 percent last year. It has made a huge turnaround since 2006, when it lost $12.6 billion and had to borrow more than $20 billion to stay in business. Salaried workers didn't get pay raises last year, but many were granted performance bonuses. They got only merit pay in 2010 and no raises or bonuses were given in 2009, Evans said. The raises are necessary to keep Ford's pay competitive with other Fortune 100 companies, Evans said. Each year, Ford studies pay at competitors and other companies, she said. Ford also raised its matching contribution to the salaried employees' 401(k) retirement plan. The company now pays 60 cents for every dollar an employee contributes, up to 5 percent of their salary. This year the contribution will rise to 80 cents, Evans said. She would not say how much the raises, bonuses and additional contributions will cost the company. The raises rankled some United Auto Workers members because they did not get annual pay raises in a new four-year contract negotiated with the company last year. During the contract talks, the company told union negotiators that it didn't want to give raises to avoid recurring annual expenses. But the workers got signing bonuses and lump-sum profit sharing payments that are worth at least $16,700 over the four-year contract. Workers at General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC agreed to similar contracts with payments smaller than those given to Ford workers."
Marylander Posted May 14, 2012 Posted May 14, 2012 From my understanding of all this, Ford took Billions in low-cost loans from the Govt -- the same kind of loans that were available to many other major companies -- and it wasn't a bailout. It was just a business opportunity. The federal government never took a stake in Ford the same way it did in GM or Chrysler.
billawd Posted May 14, 2012 Posted May 14, 2012 Ford took out a loan from the government and has already payed it back. This was not a bail out. Ford also sold off many other companies to stay afloat.
clayc_989 Posted May 14, 2012 Posted May 14, 2012 This may be biased coming from me but anyways... Taking CPFF loans is something completely different than filing for bankruptcy protection. There were many companies using the opportunity to keep things running smooth during the 'crisis'. Honestly, it doesn't matter, big businesses get government sponsored loans all the time. All of them are still here providing jobs to Americans (the foreign counterpart of their business is a different story). Business practices that make a company say 'Oh wait, we could go under' is what is at issue, at least for me.
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