Archive for July, 2010
Report: Ford cuts debt by $4B with cold, hard cash
Posted by: | CommentsFiled under: Ford
Ford ended the first quarter with a knee-wobbling $34 billion in debt, but the Blue Oval has been making good on its bills in impressive fashion over the past three months. The automaker has paid off $7 billion in loans in the second quarter, saving the company $470 million in annual interest payments.
The latest debt reduction came when the company paid $860 million in cash to its VEBA retirement health care fund that was due. With its pocketbook already open, Ford doled out another $2.9 billion to complete its VEBA obligation. Ford could have used stock to pay off the fund, but the company instead reaped a two-percent discount for shelling out cold, hard cash instead. Ford paid down another $250 million in securities to bring the total dollar figure to $4 billion. Ford now has $27 billion in outstanding debt and the company expects to be solidly profitable for 2010.
[Source: Detroit News]
Report: Ford cuts debt by $4B with cold, hard cash originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ford begins online car sales in the UK, 40% of buyers approve
Posted by: | CommentsFiled under: Car Buying, Etc., Ford, UK
Ford has started offering vehicles for direct sale via the internet for United Kingdom customers. Ford conducted its own research and found that almost 40 percent of buyers don’t even care about a test drive; they just want what they want with the click of a mouse.
Ford has set 50 dealers up to sell new and used cars and commercial vehicles on the web, and sales swung into action on June 29th. A new call center has also been opened to close the deal for customers that seek an alternative to the online purchase. The cars will be delivered to regional delivery centers; Ford has set up 12 facilities where customers will collect their cars and drive off.
The 550 traditional Ford dealers in the UK might understandably be miffed at this direct-sales move, but they’re still the preferred choice of sixty percent of buyers. Haggling is possible with either outlet, and cutting out a level of complexity and cost would make life easier and possibly more profitable for Ford. For now, all statements support both efforts running in parallel.
[Source: Telegraph.co.uk]
Ford begins online car sales in the UK, 40% of buyers approve originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 07:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.