Ford Once Again Bests “Government Motors”

After beating expectations in back-to-back financial quarters, Ford Motor Company saw its U.S. deliveries soar by 33 percent in December – once again exceeding industry projections.

Meanwhile, “Government Motors” saw its light vehicle deliveries drop by 5.7% – a larger decline than analysts anticipated.

The news comes a day after the U.S. Treasury pumped another $3.8 billion of taxpayer money into GMAC Financial Services, where it is now the majority “shareholder.”  GMAC also received $12.5 billion in bailout funds in 2009.

“These actions offer the best chance for GMAC to complete its overall restructuring plan and return to the private capital markets for its debt financing and capital needs in 2010,” Treasury officials said in a prepared statement.

Wait … what? “Return to the private capital markets?”

Sheesh …

Anyway, the dip in deliveries comes as GM has stepped up its advertising efforts after being “limited” to $50 million a month in ad expenditures during its government-controlled bankruptcy by President Barack Obama’s auto task force.

All told, GM and Chrysler took an estimated $65 billion in bailout money over the past year – and that’s not including the $3 billion “Cash for Clunkers” bailout.

It hasn’t helped. In addition to GM’s larger-than-expected decline in December deliveries, Chrysler (now Italian-owned) saw a 3.7% drop in U.S. deliveries – which also exceeded estimates.

Meanwhile, Honda, Nissan and Toyota all posted solid gains in December, as well …