Go Ford!

Ford Motor Company has reported its first profits in over a year, closing out the second quarter of 2009 up $2.3 billion.

Most of the profits came from restructuring its debt, but the company beat Wall Street estimates and is poised to emerge from the recession as a leaner, meaner auto giant (i.e. what Government Motors’ CEO Barack Obama claims is going to happen at that company).

Incidentally, just today Obama’s Treasury Department named five new directors to GM’s board, yet another sign that all decisions regarding the automaker will be made out of Washington, D.C.

Government Motors (formerly General Motors) has received $60 billion from U.S. and Canadian governments over the past year.

Ford was the only member of the “Big Three” Detroit automakers to refuse government bailout money, which may have been the smartest move it ever made.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Ford remains on track to break even or make money in 2011 and has sufficient liquidity to fund its turnaround plan, Mr. Mulally, a former Boeing Co. executive, said Thursday.

Once seen as the industry’s sickest company, Ford underwent a wrenching cost-cutting period. It closed plants, shed brands and laid off more than 40,000 employees. It also borrowed $23.5 billion from private lenders by mortgaging almost everything of value at the company.

In the last year, a leaner Ford was able to shun a government bailout and avoid bankruptcy, recasting itself as a U.S.-based car maker with enough new products and global reach to survive the auto-sales downturn.

Ford’s stock shot up by nearly 10% on the earnings report, and the news that it is on a path to profitability.

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