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Shares of Ford Motor Co. hit their highest price in more than four years as the broader market rose Tuesday. Shares of the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker traded as high as $9.88 in Tuesday's session, their highest price since October 2005. Shares recently traded up 18 cents at $9.85. Ford shares have nearly quadrupled in value in the year to date as the company rolled out new products like the Ford Fusion midsize sedan, cut costs and managed to avoid government aid and bankruptcy protection unlike its crosstown rivals General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.

Ford's finalized sales terms of Volvo, the U.S. automaker's Swedish brand, to Chinese car conglomerate Geely. As one meatball falls on the floor, another is picked up... then sold to the Chinese restaurant down the block. And these are seriously meatball-like prices. Ford bought Volvo for $6 billion in 1999 and reports indicate they'll be selling the brand for just $2 billion. Well, at least it's, you know, not a total loss.

Ford offers buyouts to all UAW workers Photo 3:27pm EST DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co said Monday it is offering its 41,000 U.S. factory workers buyouts and early retirement offers in a bid to reduce its payroll costs as it aims to return to profit by 2011. The buyouts mark the second round of such offers for Ford workers represented by the United Auto Workers union. About 1,000 workers took offers to leave the automaker in July. Ford workers have until late January to accept the offers, which include payouts of up to $70,000 cash for newer hires to...

Now 45 years old and revamped for 2010 with new styling and more powerful V-8, the "pony car" that debuted in 1964 is strikingly muscular, more energetic than before and thoroughly cool for a modern buyer. You dont even have to pretend to be Steve McQueen, the lead actor in the 1968 film "Bullitt" who famously drove a Mustang in one of Hollywoods best chase scenes, to enjoy the new Mustangs unique persona.

Researchers trying to protect pregnant drivers

Jaguar Land Rover had seen its sales rise 23% in the second quarter after its new models were well-received. Owner Tata Motors said new products such as the upgraded Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Discovery 4 had had successful launches. ... Tata bought the British marques from Ford for £1.7bn in June 2008. Sales volumes at Jaguar Land Rover rose to 44,300 vehicles from 35,900 in the previous quarter. Aggressive cost reduction had also paid off, Tata said.

It's an economic contradiction to order the industry to build small cars but not encourage people to buy them. The government is trying to push us into smaller, fuel-stingy vehicles. The plan is not working. Motorists don't seem excited by the small cars out there. They'll sit on their hands rather than buy. The end result is not so much fuel efficiency as depressed sales of new cars. The top seller in the American market is still the big Ford f-150 pickup. Then comes the family-size car, the Toyota ( TM - news - people ) Camry, then the big...

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. says it plans to sell a new police cruiser vehicle to replace the Crown Victoria once the sedan is phased out of production in 2011.

Ford Learns The Price Of Solvency Logan Robinson, 11.07.09, 12:00 PM EST But what has the UAW learned? In plant-by-plant voting over the last few weeks a large majority of the 41,000 United Auto Workers (UAW) workers employed by the Ford Motor Company voted to reject modifications to their collective bargaining agreement negotiated by their own national union. The modifications were designed to bring the Ford-UAW agreement into parity with concessions the UAW gave to GM and Chrysler as part of their government-brokered bankruptcies. They included a wage freeze for entry-level workers until the 2015 contract, a commitment to binding...

Ford, the least public of all U.S. auto firms, has increased its market share in 12 of the past 13 months.

Ford, the only Detroit automaker to dodge direct government aid and bankruptcy court, surprised investors with net income of nearly $1 billion in the third quarter and forecast a "solidly profitable" 2011. The automaker said Monday earnings were fueled by U.S. market share gains, cost cuts and the Cash for Clunkers program, which drew flocks of buyers to showrooms this summer. Ford's shares rose 58 cents, or 8.3 percent, to $7.58 in pre-market trading. The latest results signal that Ford's turnaround is on more solid ground. The company lost more than $14.6 billion last year and hasn't posted a full-year...

C4C Since “Cash For Clunkers” applied to Ford, GM and Chrysler. Why did Ford Motor Company post a ONE BILLION DOLLAR 3rd quarter PROFIT and GM and Chrysler post losses? It couldn’t be the autos since all models are about the same size, design and price. I believe it was the consumer buying more Fords as a REWARD for not taking TARP money and remaining a private company. The more units sold, the more profit. Consumer votes have been cast. Ford, GM and Chrysler have gone their separate ways. Now when GM and Chrysler look up they see the gutter...

Title only. Too short to excerpt.

Do I detect a bit of payback in this story? The UAW rank-and-file rejected a renegotiated contract from Ford intended to bring themselves into parity with GM and Chrysler, as has long been the practice for the Detroit automakers. In doing so, the workers also rejected the counsel of their own union, which had endorsed the new contract. Ford will have to operate at a disadvantage for the next two years in terms of compensation as a result:

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co.'s rank-and-file union members rejected a concessions agreement, leaving the auto maker at risk to higher costs compared with competitors Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Co. Although some locals are still voting through Sunday, the United Auto Workers national leadership has accepted the defeat, said three union sources who asked not to be identified since they don't officially speak for the UAW. The leadership is now reviewing other options, these people said. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told Dow Jones Newswires on Friday he will not continue bargaining or conduct a re-vote. Ford will now have...

Doubts are growing about whether the Ford pact with the United Auto Workers will be approved after the rank and file at two more plants overwhelmingly rejected it. Workers at a parts-making plant in Saline, Mich., voted 75 percent against the deal. Research and engineering employees in Dearborn, Mich., were even more negative, with roughly 90 percent voting against the deal. Ford’s biggest assembly plant, at Claycomo, has already voted 92 percent against the concessions, which Ford says it needs to stay competitive. Chrysler and General Motors got the conessions from the UAW, but they were going through bankruptcy, which...

The Ford Fusion was rated higher in reliability this year than its counterparts- Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. The only car in the family sedan category with better ratings compared to Fusion was the Toyota Prius, the magazine said yesterday. “It’s rare for Consumer Reports to see family sedans from domestic carmakers continue to beat the reliability scores of such highly regarded Japanese models,” David Champion, senior director of the Yonkers, New York based magazine’s Automotive Test Center, said in a statement. World class production Ford’s reliability will translate into future gains as it will help the company capture a...

Unions Bend the Curve! I knew they'd find a way to punish Ford: The new UAW contract with Ford apparently does not give America's surviving non-bankrupt automaker parity with GM and Chrysler, reports Bloomberg: "The plan doesn’t include cuts to retiree benefits, such as vision coverage, that were granted to GM and Chrysler." Rather, the pain seems even more concentrated on future hires (if there are any) than with the GM/Chrysler deals. ... TTAC wonders whether the UAW had an extra incentive to resist giving concessions that might make Ford more successful now that the union owns a large chunk of its main domestic competitors.  ... P.S.: The argument that "the...

Logic Takes a Back Seat -- and Windows, as Auto Maker Plays Tariff Games BALTIMORE -- Several times a month, Transit Connect vans from a Ford Motor Co. factory in Turkey roll off a ship here shiny and new, rear side windows gleaming, back seats firmly bolted to the floor. Their first stop in America is a low-slung, brick warehouse where those same windows, never squeegeed at a gas station, and seats, never touched by human backsides, are promptly ripped out. The fabric is shredded, the steel parts are broken down, and everything is sent off along with the glass...

America, are you ready for Rush Limbaugh in an electric car? The conservative talk show host has agreed to take Jay Leno's "Green Car Challenge." In the segment airing next Thursday on NBC's "Jay Leno Show," Limbaugh will race an electric Ford Focus around a custom-built track beside Leno's studio, the show's representative confirmed. The "Green Car Challenge" segment makes its debut on the primetime show tomorrow night. Celebrities who participate drive two times around the twisty track, which takes a little less than a minute to complete. By the time Rush gets behind the wheel of the zero-emission vehicle,...

C/D TEST RESULTS: Zero to 60 mph: 5.1 sec Zero to 100 mph: 12.5 sec Zero to 120 mph: 18.2 sec Street start, 5–60 mph: 5.6 sec Standing ¼-mile: 13.7 sec @ 104 mph Top speed (governor limited, mfr’s claim): 149 mph Braking, 70–0 mph: 164 ft Roadholding, 200-ft-dia skidpad: 0.92 g

Dearborn, MI (AHN) - Ford Motor (NYSE:F) said Thursday that it plans to raise North American production in the rest of the year in a bid to meet growing consumer demand, helped by the government's "cash for clunkers" program. Ford aims to increase output by 10,000 units to 495,000 new vehicles in the third quarter, which is almost 18 percent more than the production level of a year-ago period. The production gain will primarily focus on building additional Escape small utility vehicles and Focus small cars. The automaker also plans to produce 570,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, 33 percent...

Because of distorted sales figures, Ford's Escape cross-over SUV, not the Focus small car, tops the list for most popular 'clunker' buy. What are people trading their clunkers in for? It depends on who you ask. The government's results showed small cars as the top choice for shoppers looking for Cash for Clunker deals. But an independent analysis by Edmunds.com disputed those results, and showed that two full-size trucks and a small crossover SUV were actually among the top-ten buys. The discrepancy is a result of the methods used. Edmunds.com uses traditional sales measurements, tallying sales by make and model....

The government's monster gift to automakers, cash for clunkers, is not pumping up the sales of small cars as it first said it was, instead it's increasing the sales of trucks according to an analysis by Edmunds.com: CNNMoney: The discrepancy is a result of the methods used. Edmunds.com uses traditional sales measurements, tallying sales by make and model. The government uses a more arcane measurement method that subdivides models according to engine and transmission types, counting them as separate models. For example, the Ford Escape is available in six different versions including two- and four-wheel drive and hybrid versions. The...

TOYOTA Corolla overtakes FORD Focus as top seller in trade...

All numbers are as of Tuesday morning. 25.4 miles per gallon is the average fuel economy of vehicles purchased under the "cash for clunkers" program. 15.8 mpg is the average for clunkers turned in for demolition. 83% of the clunkers traded in are SUVs and trucks. 60% of the new vehicles purchased are cars. 47% of the new vehicles are made by Ford, General Motors or Chrysler. Top 5 states (Dollar amount of vouchers issued for new cars) Michigan: $34.4 million Ohio: $29.3 million California: $26.4 million Minnesota: $26.1 million Texas: $25.0 million Bestselling models (Top cars purchased under the...

--- The Top Ten Cash for Clunkers Trade-Ins: 1. 1998 Ford Explorer 2. 1997 Ford Explorer 3. 1996 Ford Explorer 4. 1999 Ford Explorer 5. Jeep Grand Cherokee 6. Jeep Cherokee 7. 1995 Ford Explorer 8. 1994 Ford Explorer 9. 1997 Ford Windstar 10. 1999 Dodge Caravan --- The Top Ten Cash for Clunkers New Cars: 1. Ford Focus 2. Honda Civic 3. Toyota Corolla 4. Toyota Prius 5. Ford Escape 6. Toyota Camry 7. Dodge Caliber 8. Hyundai Elantra 9. Honda Fit 10. Chevy Cobalt

Ford! Shares of the venerable automaker are trading heavily today — third most active on the NYSE — and they were up more than 5% at last glance, after Ford said its U.S. light-vehicle sales rose 2.4% in July, the first monthly gain in 20 months. Ford folks were effusive in their praise for the government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program in a conference call to discuss the monthly results with analysts. “The program so far seems to be living up to its premise as a win-win-win for consumers, the economy, and the environment,” said Emily Kolinski Morris, a Ford economist.

Lawyers emerge as the winner in Ford settlement SAN FRANCISCO – The lawyers were paid millions of dollars. Ford Motor Co. put behind it a costly lawsuit connected to the Explorer rollover scandal of the 1990s. And the judge closed out a complex case that clogged the Sacramento County Superior Court's overburdened calendar for more than seven years. Everyone seemingly got some tangible benefit — except for nearly all of the 1 million consumers covered by the class action lawsuit filed in their name. None of the consumers got money, only discount coupons toward new Ford purchases. Few used them....

Ford Motor Co will report its U.S. sales for July rose from a year ago on a late-month surge under the federal government's "Cash for Clunkers" incentive program, senior U.S. executives said on Sunday. The July increase marks Ford's first year-over-year monthly rise since November 2007, just before the U.S. economic downturn began, and the first increase for any of the largest automakers since the start of the financial crisis a year ago. The result is "important to Ford, but it is also a very good indication for the economy," Ford U.S. sales chief Ken Czubay said in a telephone...

DETROIT -- Ford Motor narrowed its operating losses in the second quarter, as it reaped the benefits of cost savings and market share gains at the expense of its domestic rivals.

" Ford Motor Co posted a $2.3 billion quarterly net profit, mainly due to debt restructuring, and said it was on track to at least break even in 2011, sending its shares up more than 7 percent. Ford posted an operating loss for the quarter that was better than analysts expected, excluding a net gain of $2.8 billion from one-time items that included the debt reduction actions, despite reeling global markets that helped push U.S. rivals General Motors and Chrysler into bankruptcy. The automaker said it expects the U.S. economy to begin to recover in the second half of this...

-Ford Motor Co. (F) returned to profitability in its second-quarter and slowed its cash burn amid speculation that it may issue more equity to reduce its debt. The auto maker reported a net income of $2.3 billion or 69 cents a share, compared with a loss of $8.67 billion, or $3.89 a share for the same period a year earlier. The company burned through about $1 billion in cash during the quarter as it controlled incentive spending around the world while increasing output in its North American plants. Ford's profit came largely from a $3.4 billion gain it received related...

ARLINGTON, VA — Crash tests demonstrate that occupant protection in all kinds of vehicles is improving. However, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety doesn't routinely test vehicles in every size/type category. Emphasizing vehicles for family use, the Institute usually crash tests 4-door models. To evaluate the extent to which automakers are extending crashworthiness improvements to 2-door cars, the Institute recently conducted front, side, and rear tests of 2009 coupes including the Chevrolet Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, and Scion tC, all small models, plus the midsize Volvo C30. "We're often asked about the crash test performance of 2-door cars," says...

Simply a must see Ford commercial. Ford, the only car company NOT getting a bailout.

There is a groundswell of disdain for the federal bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler, even as polls show that a growing "Buy American" sentiment is boosting sales for the only Detroit automaker that avoided bankruptcy and federal rescue - Ford. GM and Chrysler say some buyers are coming back to support them, even trading in their Mercedes for Chevrolets. But it is bailout opponents who are the most visible - and audible. Conservatives thunder that the country has taken a socialist route with President Obama at the wheel. "I won't buy a socialist car," columnist and radio talk-show host...

"Government Motors" is driving Americans away There is a groundswell of disdain for the federal bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler, even as polls show that a growing "Buy American" sentiment is boosting sales for the only Detroit automaker that avoided bankruptcy and federal rescue - Ford. "I won't buy a socialist car," columnist and radio talk-show host Hugh Hewitt thundered. Others agree - at least about GM. "Over the years, we have mostly been a General Motors family. Since GM has become Government Motors, we will never again buy a GM product," said William Crowley of Spicewood, Texas. However,...

In a recent op-ed piece published in The Wall Street Journal, Alan Reynolds of the Cato Institute starts by making a few decent points about fuel taxation and fuel economy rules. Unfortunately, he undermines himself with some blatant errors and misinformation. In discussing how Detroit automakers will deal with new fuel efficiency requirements, he makes the all-too-common mistake of referring to Ford's hybrid system as licensed from Toyota ("Similarly, Ford has the Toyota-licensed hybrid Fusion and will soon produce the European Ford Fiesta in Mexico"). The reality is that Ford independently developed its own hybrid system at the same time...

Two of the biggest car makers in America, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Co., called a bottom to the long decline in U.S. auto sales as the industry reported its smallest monthly sales drop this year. New-vehicle sales in June fell 28% from a year earlier to 860,000 cars and light trucks, according to the market-research firm Autodata Corp. That would be the smallest decline in any month this year.

U.S. sales at Ford and Chrysler last month offered sharply different views on the downtrodden U.S. market for cars and trucks, while General Motors Corp. held its own even though it entered bankruptcy protection.

<p>DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday called its 10.7 percent drop in U.S. June sales "steady progress," after a year of sharp declines across the industry.</p> <p>The monthly decline was Ford's smallest since July of last year, a sign that U.S. auto sales may be recovering from the worst slump in 27 years.</p>

As Ford looks to reinvent itself with smaller, energy efficient vehicles they are faced with the stark reality that as of late May their Ford F-150 series continues to outsell the Toyota Camry. Let that sink in for a moment. The best-selling truck in the U.S. still outsells the best-selling car, according to a report by the American Institute for Economic Research. New car sales have generally declined through the 1990's to the present, while truck sales rose precipitously from the 70s until just a few years ago. Annual car and truck sales are now virtually even. President Obama last...

DEARBORN, Mich. — Citing better-than-expected sales and traffic at dealerships, Ford Motor Co. said Monday it plans to increase third-quarter production by 25,000 units, marking the automaker's second production hike in recent weeks.

Cultivating the next generation of fuel-efficient vehicles, the Obama administration said Tuesday it would lend $5.9 billion to Ford Motor Co. and about $2.1 billion to Nissan Motor Co. and Tesla Motors Inc. in a government-industry partnership to build green cars. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the three automakers would be the first beneficiaries of a $25 billion fund to develop fuel-efficient vehicles. The loans to Ford will help the company upgrade factories in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio to produce 13 fuel-efficient vehicles. Nissan (NSANY) will receive loans of $1.6 billion to retool its plant in Smyrna, Tenn.,...

The Energy Department said Tuesday it would lend $5.9 billion to Ford Motor Co. and provide about $2.1 billion in loans to Nissan Motor Co. and Tesla Motors Inc., making the three automakers the first beneficiaries of a $25 billion fund to develop fuel-efficient vehicles.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Energy Department is expected to announce Tuesday it is lending money to the Ford Motor Co. and two other automakers from a $25 billion fund to develop fuel-efficient vehicles.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. John McCain officially got the keys to his 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid on Tuesday, and promptly took it for a spin around the Russell Senate office building in Washington — but not before accidentially tripping the car alarm. Before jumping in, McCain was overheard remarking that his new ride features a voice-activated navigation system and Sirius satellite radio. Riding shotgun was McCain's buddy Lindsey Graham, who joked as he got into the passenger seat: "I hope I live to tell about this."

The U.S. General Services Administration has admitted that the Obama White House, when replacing its fleet of government cars, buys more Fords than GM or Chrysler vehicles. As reported by Autoblog, "[o]f the three American automakers, Ford was the clear winner of government funds with a total of 7,924 Blue Ovals bought and paid for at a total of $129 million...." No word yet from the administration on why it hands billions in tax dollars to two auto companies to keep them in business...and then takes the majority of its business to a competitor.

More tales from broken the credit markets. Read » Ford has been learning the danger of being a relatively successful company in the age of bailouts: higher borrowing costs. The Associated Press breaks down the numbers: GMAC, 9.9 percent owned by GM and lender to its dealers and buyers, sold $3.5 billion of 2.2 percent three-and-a-half year notes on June 3 guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. priced at 99.841 cents on the dollar to yield 2.25 percent. Ford issued $1.1 billion of five-year 8 percent notes May 28, priced at 82.036 cents on the dollar to yield 13...

Amid bankruptcies and forecasts of Detroit doom, one of the Big Three is hanging tough. Ford tough. Once defined by the revolutionary Model T, Ford is motoring on without federal bailouts, Treasury-led restructurings or bankruptcy judges. Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. market share grew last month, and sales surpassed even mighty Toyota's. Ford's shares have outperformed those of Honda and Toyota over the past year. Shares of archrival General Motors Corp., now in bankruptcy, are nearly worthless. Shareholders and analysts see pluses and minuses in Ford's decision to steer clear of government interference.