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(Washington Post) Cool Ford posts third quarter profits of...*rubs hands together*...one BILLION dollars   (washingtonpost.com) divider line 92
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PurplePimpSaber [TotalFark] 2009-11-02 10:16:20 AM  
*raises pinky to corner of mouth*, subby.

 
mandrsn1 2009-11-02 10:19:31 AM  
That's a good start.

 
Lost Thought 00 2009-11-02 10:21:22 AM  
And next quarter that will be down to $-5 billion, without the government giving them a bailout in the form of CfC

 
gilgamesh23 [TotalFark] 2009-11-02 10:22:23 AM  
A net profit of 3% on sales? Surely they could bump that margin up if they sold a few more Excursions and Explorers.

 
ne2d [TotalFark] 2009-11-02 10:31:42 AM  
Lost Thought 00: And next quarter that will be down to $-5 billion, without the government giving them a bailout in the form of CfC

Pretty much this.

 
petcat2469 2009-11-02 10:35:02 AM  
OMG!! they are barely squeaking by on a Billion dollars... they need to get the UAW to roll over or else they may have to settle on solid gold toilets in the executive washrooms instead of platinum...

 
belowner 2009-11-02 10:37:36 AM  
petcat2469: OMG!! they are barely squeaking by on a Billion dollars... they need to get the UAW to roll over or else they may have to settle on solid gold toilets in the executive washrooms instead of platinum...

One quarter does not constitute a trend...

 
OutsmartBullet 2009-11-02 10:42:17 AM  
We're talking about a company that has revenues in excess of 140 Billion dollars. A one billion dollar profit really isn't excessive (or even very good) when we're dealing with a company that large.

 
IronTom [TotalFark] 2009-11-02 10:44:45 AM  
OOOooo, but they didn't take the TARP, no wonder that, oh wait...

 
Magorn 2009-11-02 10:45:47 AM  
petcat2469: OMG!! they are barely squeaking by on a Billion dollars... they need to get the UAW to roll over or else they may have to settle on solid gold toilets in the executive washrooms instead of platinum...

So much this, remember thos greedy and stupid unions are just cutting their own throats by not giving ford the same concessions as two automakers who were bankrupt and teetering ont he brink of dissolution

Remember your George Orwell kids: "Executive Pay gooood! Union Pay Baaad!"

 
poisonedpawn78 2009-11-02 11:00:32 AM  
Now imagine what ford could have done, if you gave them the bailout money and let them use that money to buy the reminants of two bankrupt competators on the uber cheap...

but you know .. bailing out the failures and letting the one guy who knows what they are doing better than the other two american companies compete at a disadvantage only to still win... you know its another route you could take too...

 
deansheen 2009-11-02 11:07:12 AM  
poisendpawn - Heh, sounds like what PNC did to National City.

 
Phil McKraken 2009-11-02 11:08:28 AM  
I like the union bias in some of the comments, apparently assuming that the executives will get the profits at the union members' expense.

How about the pensions and retirees that rely on the company to make profits? Not just employees and former employees of Ford, but many "little people" will benefit from this small profit.

 
jankyboy 2009-11-02 11:20:30 AM  
Phil McKraken: How about the pensions and retirees that rely on the company to make profits? Not just employees and former employees of Ford, but many "little people" will benefit from this small profit.

This. My in-laws' retirement income came from the quarterly dividend payments on the preferred Ford stock they own. Earlier this year Ford suspended those payments, which they can by law for up to 5 years. Yes, you shouldn't put all of your eggs into one basket, but this impacts a lot more people than just those who work for and manage Ford.

 
InferiousX [recently expired TotalFark] 2009-11-02 11:39:04 AM  
Isn't Ford one of the few American Car companies basically doing everything right considering the financial situation the world is in?

I've always liked Fords, with the exception of the utter piece of shiat that is the Mercury Topaz, I've never had a major problem with a Ford, ever.

 
lennavan 2009-11-02 11:40:43 AM  
I blame the Obama administration.

/no, really

 
bambi121899 2009-11-02 11:41:28 AM  
InferiousX: Isn't Ford one of the few American Car companies basically doing everything right considering the financial situation the world is in?

I've always liked Fords, with the exception of the utter piece of shiat that is the Mercury Topaz, I've never had a major problem with a Ford, ever.



Clearly, you've never owned a used Ford.

/Found On Road Dead
//Fix Or Repair Daily

 
Antimatter 2009-11-02 11:53:13 AM  
bambi121899: InferiousX: Isn't Ford one of the few American Car companies basically doing everything right considering the financial situation the world is in?

I've always liked Fords, with the exception of the utter piece of shiat that is the Mercury Topaz, I've never had a major problem with a Ford, ever.


Clearly, you've never owned a used Ford.

/Found On Road Dead
//Fix Or Repair Daily


Pfft, I own an oldsmobile. The things hit like 60,000 and just literally fall apart.

 
InferiousX [recently expired TotalFark] 2009-11-02 11:55:14 AM  
bambi121899: InferiousX: Isn't Ford one of the few American Car companies basically doing everything right considering the financial situation the world is in?

I've always liked Fords, with the exception of the utter piece of shiat that is the Mercury Topaz, I've never had a major problem with a Ford, ever.


Clearly, you've never owned a used Ford.

/Found On Road Dead
//Fix Or Repair Daily


All of my vehicles have been used.

 
Rev. Creflo Baller 2009-11-02 11:59:59 AM  
poisonedpawn78: Now imagine what ford could have done, if you gave them the bailout money and let them use that money to buy the reminants of two bankrupt competators on the uber cheap...

but you know .. bailing out the failures and letting the one guy who knows what they are doing better than the other two american companies compete at a disadvantage only to still win... you know its another route you could take too...


1) The bailouts to Chrysler and GM weren't enough to have bought the companies.
2) The SEC's antitrust guys would have been unhappy with such a deal. Three domestic car companies is barely enough, two is too few.
3) Why in the world would Ford have wanted those POS companies?

 
hicksfa2 2009-11-02 12:06:06 PM  
OutsmartBullet: We're talking about a company that has revenues in excess of 140 Billion dollars. A one billion dollar profit really isn't excessive (or even very good) when we're dealing with a company that large.

Yeah, but when you're dealing with a company that has had declining revenues for the last few years, and their disastrous '07, and '08 fiscal operating year(s)...A 1 billion dollar profit is a breath of fresh air.

 
StrikitRich 2009-11-02 12:09:14 PM  
seattletimes.nwsource.com

MOO HA HA HA!!!

 
ha-ha-guy 2009-11-02 12:11:50 PM  
That 1 billion looks sweet until you consider that Ford has about 150 billion in outstanding debt to keep the company afloat. Then considering the debt, the lack of CfC next term and the interest in the debt that 1 billion doesn't go very far.

 
boluke01 2009-11-02 12:12:42 PM  
bambi121899: InferiousX: Isn't Ford one of the few American Car companies basically doing everything right considering the financial situation the world is in?

I've always liked Fords, with the exception of the utter piece of shiat that is the Mercury Topaz, I've never had a major problem with a Ford, ever.


Clearly, you've never owned a used Ford.

/Found On Road Dead
//Fix Or Repair Daily


Clearly you are a troll. Only time our Fords have ever had a problem was when someone else decided to run their car into our Ford.

 
poisonedpawn78 2009-11-02 12:14:06 PM  
Rev. Creflo Baller:
1) The bailouts to Chrysler and GM weren't enough to have bought the companies.
2) The SEC's antitrust guys would have been unhappy with such a deal. Three domestic car companies is barely enough, two is too few.
3) Why in the world would Ford have wanted those POS companies?


1) When your paying 5 cents or less on the dollar in bankruptcy proceedings it surely would have been.
2) the SEC doesnt have a say if the companies are BANKRUPT
3)Factories, Machinery, Land, Supplier chain/distribution

Are we done here?

 
aegisalpha [TotalFark] 2009-11-02 12:16:31 PM  
ha-ha-guy: That 1 billion looks sweet until you consider that Ford has about 150 billion in outstanding debt to keep the company afloat. Then considering the debt, the lack of CfC next term and the interest in the debt that 1 billion doesn't go very far.

Their projections had been to be operating at a loss until 2012 or so. So a 1bn windfall quarter certainly helps.

 
tomo12144 [TotalFark] 2009-11-02 12:16:43 PM  
FTFA: Over the past three years, Ford has closed more than 10 plants and cut 45 percent of its workforce in its North American division.

Ford - Cutting our way to profitibility since 1903

 
aegisalpha [TotalFark] 2009-11-02 12:19:22 PM  
aegisalpha: ha-ha-guy: That 1 billion looks sweet until you consider that Ford has about 150 billion in outstanding debt to keep the company afloat. Then considering the debt, the lack of CfC next term and the interest in the debt that 1 billion doesn't go very far.

Their projections had been to be operating at a loss until 2012 or so. So a 1bn windfall quarter certainly helps.


And then I read the article and see that they bumped their forecast up to 2011. So yeah, it's definitely good news for them even if this is a short-term surge.

Most of their profits are coming from the European and Asian markets though, so I doubt the CfC program going away is going to significantly mess them up.

 
the_geek 2009-11-02 12:26:00 PM  
Rev. Creflo Baller: 1) The bailouts to Chrysler and GM weren't enough to have bought the companies.

Depends on whether or not you count the "loans" the government gave the two companies as bailouts. If you do, then I recall GM's market capitalization being about 1/3 of the funding they received. I didn't check Chrysler at the time but I'm sure it was in the same boat.

 
ha-ha-guy 2009-11-02 12:27:12 PM  
aegisalpha: aegisalpha: ha-ha-guy: That 1 billion looks sweet until you consider that Ford has about 150 billion in outstanding debt to keep the company afloat. Then considering the debt, the lack of CfC next term and the interest in the debt that 1 billion doesn't go very far.

Their projections had been to be operating at a loss until 2012 or so. So a 1bn windfall quarter certainly helps.

And then I read the article and see that they bumped their forecast up to 2011. So yeah, it's definitely good news for them even if this is a short-term surge.

Most of their profits are coming from the European and Asian markets though, so I doubt the CfC program going away is going to significantly mess them up.


Very true. The Chinese econ has been a huge blessing for Buick sales over here at GM. I think the Buick guys are down to half a bottle of anti-acid a day.

/the candy dish on my boss's desk has been replaced by a collection of anti-acid pills.

 
Sun Worshiping Dog Launcher 2009-11-02 12:30:59 PM  
boluke01: Clearly you are a troll. Only time our Fords have ever had a problem was when someone else decided to run their car into our Ford.

Because when you don't have a problem with a line of vehicles, then no one can right? I had a piece of shiat 1988 Ford Bronco that had more wrong with it than right. So you must clearly be the troll because I find it impossible that anyone in the history of mankind could have ever had a good experience with a Ford vehicle.

Anyway, I hope your post was merely meant to be sarcastic. Mine certainly is. Except for the part about the '88 Bronco. It was crap.

 
lennavan 2009-11-02 12:31:15 PM  
tomo12144: FTFA: Over the past three years, Ford has closed more than 10 plants and cut 45 percent of its workforce in its North American division.

Ford - Cutting our way to profitibility since 1903


I'm confused, are you saying that like it's a bad thing? If your costs outweigh your revenues then you cut. The market fluctuates, one year people are making money and buying cars, the next year a recession hits and people aren't buying as much. So one year you need to produce lots of cars, the next year maybe not so much. Seems smart to me.

dcharmedone.files.wordpress.com

 
wildsnowllama 2009-11-02 12:34:39 PM  
belowner: petcat2469: OMG!! they are barely squeaking by on a Billion dollars... they need to get the UAW to roll over or else they may have to settle on solid gold toilets in the executive washrooms instead of platinum...

One quarter does not constitute a trend...


imgs.xkcd.com

 
ghare 2009-11-02 12:42:21 PM  
InferiousX: Isn't Ford one of the few American Car companies basically doing everything right considering the financial situation the world is in?

I've always liked Fords, with the exception of the utter piece of shiat that is the Mercury Topaz, I've never had a major problem with a Ford, ever.


I destroyed an '89 Escort, but really it was my fault, should have bought the manual tranny, the 3-speed automatic just did NOT make it in Miami, and I burned that poor engine up.

My wife's Focus is 5 years old and a fine little car.

I never have problems with cars, at all. But I know how to maintain them and I don't drive like a nut (anymore).

 
devildog123 [TotalFark] 2009-11-02 12:43:26 PM  
Magorn: petcat2469: OMG!! they are barely squeaking by on a Billion dollars... they need to get the UAW to roll over or else they may have to settle on solid gold toilets in the executive washrooms instead of platinum...

So much this, remember thos greedy and stupid unions are just cutting their own throats by not giving ford the same concessions as two automakers who were bankrupt and teetering ont he brink of dissolution

Remember your George Orwell kids: "Executive Pay gooood! Union Pay Baaad!"


Because Ford isn't deep in debt or anything. The billion dollars lets them operate without having to go deeper in debt.

If you owe someone 100 dollars, and then find a 20 on the ground, you are still 80 dollars in debt.

I'm pretty sure that this "profit" isn't going to buying the CEO a new jet.

 
Shazam999 2009-11-02 12:54:24 PM  
Sun Worshiping Dog Launcher: boluke01: Clearly you are a troll. Only time our Fords have ever had a problem was when someone else decided to run their car into our Ford.

Because when you don't have a problem with a line of vehicles, then no one can right? I had a piece of shiat 1988 Ford Bronco that had more wrong with it than right. So you must clearly be the troll because I find it impossible that anyone in the history of mankind could have ever had a good experience with a Ford vehicle.

Anyway, I hope your post was merely meant to be sarcastic. Mine certainly is. Except for the part about the '88 Bronco. It was crap.


Jesus, you bring up a car from 20 years ago? The crap the Asians were producing back then was just as bad.

 
capnmonkey 2009-11-02 01:01:35 PM  
Shazam999: Jesus, you bring up a car from 20 years ago? The crap the Asians were producing back then was just as bad.

POS Ford doesn't even have traction control
www.waymotor.com

 
mrtoadswildride 2009-11-02 01:12:07 PM  
Magorn: So much this, remember thos greedy and stupid unions are just cutting their own throats by not giving ford the same concessions as two automakers who were bankrupt and teetering ont he brink of dissolution

Remember your George Orwell kids: "Executive Pay gooood! Union Pay Baaad!"


This is top down problem, the management is stupidand the engineers can't design a car that won't catch on fire. I admit these points. But that doesn't change the fact the UAW is killing the auto industry.

You talk about propaganda, go listen to a union worker talk about the union and/or non unions shops. You'd think management send teams of people around to rape and murder families while the god fearing, hard working, family man is toiling away for a pennies a day.

I worked in a union warehouse(teamsters) many moons ago...it was a joke. I saw people SLEEPING on forking lifts half the day, so they could stay late and get time and half.

I know of guy who whipped out his penis while during an argument with management, which happened to be in the presence of a woman. He was fired on the spot. He subsequently sued (or filed a grievance), got his job back, and was given pay for the time he missed, plus the "probable" overtime he missed, and he made a large copy of the check he brought around as a trophy.

My grandfather was a union guy his whole life working a printing press for a newspaper. Every once a while the workers would intentionally break something on the printing machines. This would require the company to call the company's union electrician/repairmen/mechanic. Because the printing presses ran at night (to make the papers for the morning) the electrician got double time and as per his contract he automatically made something like 4 hours of pay (you know, to make it worth it to come in at night). All the while the entire operation would sit on it's hands until the machine was back up and running.

/And the list goes on. Everyone I know who ever dealt with a unions has a dozen of these stories...
//it's one thing for workers to act like this when they make $5.00 and you can fire them at will. It's another when they are supposed to be professionals and are making $30.00+ an hour.
///rant over

 
Jeng 2009-11-02 01:55:33 PM  
poisonedpawn78: Now imagine what ford could have done, if you gave them the bailout money and let them use that money to buy the reminants of two bankrupt competators on the uber cheap...

but you know .. bailing out the failures and letting the one guy who knows what they are doing better than the other two american companies compete at a disadvantage only to still win... you know its another route you could take too...


Making monopolies is not a good idea.

 
GameSprocket 2009-11-02 02:13:46 PM  
Boy, there sure are a lot of farkers who seem somewhat insulted that an American car company poster a profit for one quarter. Good news really sucks!

 
Sun Worshiping Dog Launcher 2009-11-02 02:14:38 PM  
Shazam999: Jesus, you bring up a car from 20 years ago? The crap the Asians were producing back then was just as bad.

Pretty much my point.

 
capnmonkey 2009-11-02 02:19:35 PM  
GameSprocket: Boy, there sure are a lot of farkers who seem somewhat insulted that an American car company poster a profit for one quarter. Good news really sucks!

It's the only thing that makes them feel better about driving this hideous beast:
hembaba.com

 
Jeng 2009-11-02 02:24:44 PM  
InferiousX: Isn't Ford one of the few American Car companies basically doing everything right considering the financial situation the world is in?

I've always liked Fords, with the exception of the utter piece of shiat that is the Mercury Topaz, I've never had a major problem with a Ford, ever.


This.

No really, we had a Ford Tempo that is the Ford version of the Topaz, it sucked really really bad. Otherwise no real complaints about Ford.

 
poisonedpawn78 2009-11-02 02:25:39 PM  
Jeng: poisonedpawn78: Now imagine what ford could have done, if you gave them the bailout money and let them use that money to buy the reminants of two bankrupt competators on the uber cheap...

but you know .. bailing out the failures and letting the one guy who knows what they are doing better than the other two american companies compete at a disadvantage only to still win... you know its another route you could take too...

Making monopolies is not a good idea.


Toyota, BMW, Porsche, Honda, Mercedes, Volkswagen ... need I go on? Hardly a Monopoly I think...

 
GameSprocket 2009-11-02 02:30:10 PM  
capnmonkey: GameSprocket: Boy, there sure are a lot of farkers who seem somewhat insulted that an American car company poster a profit for one quarter. Good news really sucks!

It's the only thing that makes them feel better about driving this hideous beast:


Heh, I actually bought a Toyota Camry during CfC. I test drove the Ford Fusion, but the interior seemed cheep and the acceleration seemed weak. I traded in a Nissan Pathfinder that was purring like a kitten at 200,000 miles, but was starting to get rusty and was not great for my 30 mile (one way) commute each day.

/Still miss my Pathfinder.
//Trusty!

 
bambi121899 2009-11-02 02:33:29 PM  
InferiousX: bambi121899: InferiousX: Isn't Ford one of the few American Car companies basically doing everything right considering the financial situation the world is in?

I've always liked Fords, with the exception of the utter piece of shiat that is the Mercury Topaz, I've never had a major problem with a Ford, ever.


Clearly, you've never owned a used Ford.

/Found On Road Dead
//Fix Or Repair Daily

All of my vehicles have been used.



Yeah, to be fair, all my -- no, most of my used Fords were from the 80s. Glad to see someone has had good luck with 'em.

 
capnmonkey 2009-11-02 02:37:18 PM  
GameSprocket: Heh, I actually bought a Toyota Camry during CfC.

V6 I hope, V6 camry is a beast even if the ride is still toyota soft.

Fusion exterior looks nice, but it doesn't surprise me that the cheaper trims have cheap looking interiors.

If I were going to buy a hybrid though I'd probably get the Ford Fusion hybrid.

 
GameSprocket 2009-11-02 02:46:20 PM  
capnmonkey: GameSprocket: Heh, I actually bought a Toyota Camry during CfC.

V6 I hope, V6 camry is a beast even if the ride is still toyota soft.

Fusion exterior looks nice, but it doesn't surprise me that the cheaper trims have cheap looking interiors.

If I were going to buy a hybrid though I'd probably get the Ford Fusion hybrid.


I wish I had the V6, but my primary consideration was my long commute each day. Since I spend much of the commute in heavy traffic, the V6 would not matter much. The V4 is pretty zippy at certain speed ranges, but it shifts pretty hard. I would love to try out the Nissan Altima with the CVT to see the difference.

 
EdNortonsTwin 2009-11-02 02:48:37 PM  
I wonder how many cars they would sell if so many US goverment agencies didn't have to buy American.

 
ha-ha-guy 2009-11-02 02:49:32 PM  
GameSprocket: capnmonkey: GameSprocket: Heh, I actually bought a Toyota Camry during CfC.

V6 I hope, V6 camry is a beast even if the ride is still toyota soft.

Fusion exterior looks nice, but it doesn't surprise me that the cheaper trims have cheap looking interiors.

If I were going to buy a hybrid though I'd probably get the Ford Fusion hybrid.

I wish I had the V6, but my primary consideration was my long commute each day. Since I spend much of the commute in heavy traffic, the V6 would not matter much. The V4 is pretty zippy at certain speed ranges, but it shifts pretty hard. I would love to try out the Nissan Altima with the CVT to see the difference.


FYI you mean I4, as inline-4. The V configuratin is typically only used in 6+ cylinder odels.

 
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