Filed under: Ford, Earnings/Financials

2010 was a banner year for Ford Motor Company. Market share and profits were as good as they’ve been in years, and there is genuine buzz surrounding the Blue Oval’s cars and trucks. Heck, even Ford’s stock has been a monumental success. But not all that glitters is gold, as Ford is still mired in junk bond status, which in turn makes it more expensive to borrow money. That makes it more pricey for Ford to offer incentives to customers, and lease terms are less attractive than they would otherwise be.

K.R. Kent, Ford’s new executive director of investor relations, is charged with getting Ford out of Junk status. Automotive News reports that Ford has been in junk status since 2005 and is currently four grades below junk status after being upgraded by two levels back in August. Ford CFO Lewis Booth admits that the company still has “a lot of steps to go before we get to investment grade.” Making the matter more urgent for Ford is the fact that Ally Financial, the finance arm for General Motors and Chrysler, became a bank holding company in the second quarter of 2009. Since that time, AN says that it has been cheaper for Ally to secure loans than Ford Credit.

We’re thinking that Ford has a big job in the year ahead, and getting out of junk status will likely take improved auto sales and continued quarterly profits. Booth says Ford will reach its junk-free goal by showing the investment community “authoritative and highly credible insight into our automotive business and Ford Credit.”

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req.]

Ford’s Big Goal in 2011: Get out of junk status, lower loan rates originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

More: continued here
Powered by SmartRSS

Popularity: unranked [?]

Adviser to the president on Niger Delta and the main figure in the implementation of an amnesty for ex-militants in the region has resigned from the job, an official statement said.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

ZAMFARA State government has procured 40 buses which will carrying only women in an effort to strengthen the Shari’ah Legal System.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has announced that his office settled with former White House Task Force “Car Czar” Stephen L. Rattner for $10 million. The agreement comes following charges that Rattner engaged in a kickback scheme involving New York’s pension funds while he was an executive with Quadrangle Group.

Rattner, who oversaw the U.S. government rescue of General Motors and Chrysler in 2009 and shepherded the companies into bankruptcy, will also be barred from doing business with the State’s pension fund for a period of five years as part of the agreement with Cuomo. The deal will settle two lawsuits filed in November against Rattner.

“I am gratified that we have been able to reach an agreement in this case, as it resolves the last major action of our multi-year investigation,” Cuomo said in a statement. “The state pension fund is a valuable asset held in trust for retirees and supported by taxpayers. Through the many cases, pleas and settlements in this investigation, I believe we have been able to help restore and protect the integrity of the state pension fund.”

Mr. Cuomo will be sworn in as New York’s governor on Jan. 1.

Rattner said in a statement: “I am pleased to have reached a settlement with the New York attorney general’s office, which allows me to put this matter behind me. I apologize if during the course of this process there is anything I did that may have made reaching this agreement more difficult. I respect the work of the attorney general and his staff to ensure that the New York State Common Retirement Fund operates properly and in the best interests of New Yorkers.”

[Image: Neilson Barnard/Getty]

Continue reading “Car Czar” Rattner settles with Cuomo over pension fund kickbacks

“Car Czar” Rattner settles with Cuomo over pension fund kickbacks originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

BATTLE lines have been drawn between National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) and private petroleum distributors over ownership of six million litres of buffer-stock fuel locked in the Harare-Feruka-Beira pipeline, forcing the independent importers to use road transport instead of the cheaper pipeline, parliament was told recently.

More: continued here
Powered by SmartRSS

Popularity: unranked [?]

The Angolan Planning Minister, Ana Dias Lourenço, said on Thursday in Luanda that the arrival of the train in the northern Malanje province, will enable the development of the northern and eastern regions of the country.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

Filed under: Etc., Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Earnings/Financials

The automotive seat and specialty slice of Recaro officially has a new owner. Johnson Controls has snapped up Keiper Recaro Group – formerly owned by Putsch Gmbh & Co. KG – swallowing both the recliner manufacturer Keiper and the well-known automotive seat-maker Recaro in one fell swoop. In so doing, Johnson Controls is hoping to broaden Recaro’s OEM applications, serving up both whole seats and components on a larger scale than ever before.

Challenges facing such efforts include increased standardization and globalization in the industry. Meanwhile, the remaining faces of the Recaro brand will stay behind. The company’s aircraft seating, child safety and home factions are not included in the sale. A total of 4,750 employees across seven countries are included in the Keiper and Recaro Group sale.

[Source: Automotive World]

Report: Johnson Controls buys Recaro originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

ONCE regarded as the breadbasket of southern Africa during the first two decades after Independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has for the past 10 years become a perennial importer of food and relying more on food handouts from aid agencies after “farm invasions” which started in February 2000.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

The government’s plan to conduct an actuarial valuation of all social security schemes in the country early next year is long overdue.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]

Recent drastic rise in the price of cooking gas calls for prompt review and overall regulation of the sub-sector market before it exerts serious negative impacts on the environment and the economy.

More: continued here

Popularity: unranked [?]