Ford Quarterly Profit May Fall by Half on Overseas Losses

[Meetzos]

Looks like the recovery just keeps rolling along. I think their profits might be taking a hit also because of the fire problems with their Escape autos. They manage to come up with a rolling fire ball every once in a while.



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...as-losses.html

Ford Quarterly Profit May Fall by Half on Overseas Losses

By Keith Naughton - Apr 26, 2012 4:17 PM ET
Ford Motor Co. (F), the second-largest U.S. automaker, tomorrow may report that first-quarter profit slid by almost half as earnings in North America couldn’t overcome losses in the automaker’s international operations.

Net income may have fallen to $1.34 billion, the average of seven analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg, down 48 percent from $2.55 billion a year earlier. Profit excluding some items may have fallen to 36 cents a share, according to the average of 17 analysts’ estimates, from 62 cents a year earlier.

Ford may have lost $225 million in Europe and Asia, according to Brian Johnson, a Barclays Capital analyst. In North America, operating earnings may have totaled $1.8 billion, as Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally’s push to boost fuel economy paid off amid rising U.S. gasoline prices, the analyst said.
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[Meetzos]

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/07/11/f...ecall-repairs/

Ford Escape under fire for problems caused by recall repairs

By Chris TutorRSS feed

Posted Jul 11th 2012 2:29PM

Seven years ago, Ford recalled about 470,000 Escape crossovers from its 2002-2004 model years to fix a troublesome accelerator cable. But the Center for Auto Safety says those repairs may have caused another problem.

The original recall was to implement a fix that prevented the accelerator cable from getting caught on the pedal. The defect could keep the engine from idling. But CARS says the recommended repairs could easily damage the vehicle's cruise control cable which could lead to unintended acceleration.

CARS says the new problem can be linked to at least one fatal accident and documents several other complaints from owners. Ford says it's conducting an investigation into the complaints.

The Center, though, says Ford knew of the problem early on in the recall and points to a memo to Ford dealers as evidence. The bulletin contained updated illustrations and a "warning regarding the correct procedures to follow when replacing the accelerator cable." The update specifically notes cruise control cables could be damaged during the recall repairs.

Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director of the Center, reportedly intends to tell Ford CEO Alan Mulally to dispense with the investigation and "to get it over with now."

In an email to The New York Times, Ford expressed its sympathies to the family of the teenager who died and said, "We are in the midst of our investigation, and we have not reached any conclusions. We will work closely with NHTSA to determine the cause of the crash and will take appropriate action if warranted by the outcome of the investigation."

[Irons]

This can't be right.

State run media is consistantly telling me we're in year 3.7 of miraculous economic recovery and everybody and thier Mom is buying new cars. Everybody.