Ford Returns to Profitability After 4 Years

Ford, the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy court, clawed its way to a $2.7 billion profit in 2009 and expects to stay in the black in 2010. It was the automaker's first annual profit in four years.

Money Minute: Manufacturing on the Rise

Manufacturing sees better times, Ford's surprisingly strong earnings and a good sign for home sales.

GM, Ford Drag U.S. Car Sales to 10th Straight Decline

By Mike Ramsey and Alan Ohnsman

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the biggest U.S. automakers, dragged the domestic industry to its 10th straight monthly sales decline in August as consumers continued to snub trucks because of gasoline prices.

GM dropped 20 percent and Ford was down 27 percent. Each further pared production plans for the rest of the year. Deliveries at their main Japanese rivals, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., fell less than 10 percent.

A weak U.S. economy, falling home values and gasoline prices near $4 a gallon combined to drop industrywide sales 16 percent, and analysts said they saw little prospect for relief. Hardest hit have been the pickups and sport-utility vehicles that account for most of the volume at money-losing GM, Ford and Chrysler LLC.

``I don't think we've seen the worst,'' said John Casesa, managing partner of Casesa Shapiro Group in New York, in a Bloomberg television interview. ``This has been a long, dismal story, and macro conditions are as bad as they get for the auto industry.''

GM, Ford Drag U.S. Car Sales to 10th Straight Decline....

Ford, Toyota July Sales Fell as Buyers Shun Trucks

By Mike Ramsey

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.'s July U.S. sales declined as record gasoline prices damped demand for trucks and a slowing economy kept consumers away from dealer lots.

Ford reported a 15 percent drop from a year earlier, including a 22 percent slide for domestic-brand pickup trucks, sport-utility vehicles and vans. Toyota's sales fell 12 percent, with light trucks tumbling 27 percent. Nissan Motor Co. posted an 8.5 percent increase.

Ford, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, more dependent on trucks than Asia-based competitors such as Honda Motor Co., have led the industry's eight-month sales slide. Automakers haven't been able to meet demand for smaller, fuel-efficient cars as $4-a-gallon gasoline and a 1.9 percent second-quarter economic growth rate pinched consumers.

``The very difficult environment for auto sales continues to take a much heavier toll on the Big Three, which are being hit disproportionately by the consumer's dramatic shift away from traditional trucks towards more fuel-efficient vehicles,'' Brian Johnson, a Lehman Brothers analyst in Chicago, said in a note to investors yesterday.

Ford, Toyota July Sales Fell as Buyers Shun Trucks....