Ford Says “No Thanks” To Bailout

Staring down a $14.6 billion loss for 2008, Ford Motor Co. is still refusing to join fellow U.S. automotive giants Chrysler and GM in the waiting line for taxpayer-funded bailouts.

And as hard up as the company is for cash, saying “no thanks” to Uncle Sam could be one of the smartest business moves in the company’s history.

How come?

By not begging for a government handout (like the $17 billion bailout Chrysler and GM got last year), Ford could stand to bank a lot more in the long-term with the American public, who are fed up with the bailout culture and are eager to see America’s government and businesses start “acting American” again.

Which is precisely what Ford is doing.

From Marketwatch:

To Ford’s credit, the company saw trouble brewing before the rest of Detroit. It launched a massive makeover in 2006 dubbed the “Way Forward” aimed at returning Ford to profitability by 2008. That didn’t happen. But it gave Ford a great pitch line when, in far cushier times, it went to the banks to secure credit. It’s those credit lines (its CEO) Alan Mulally is calling on now to see them through the current crisis.

Obviously, it remains to be seen whether or not the plan works, and Ford at some point could end up with a seat at the Beggars Banquet.

For now, though, it’s nice to see a company in Ford’s position resisting the urge to further impose its own failure on an American public that simply doesn’t have the cash to bail it out … but whose politicians haven’t figured that out yet.