Ford Motor Co.'s slide to a 22-year- low in its stock price reflects ``concern about the state of the U.S. economy,'' Chief Executive Alan Mulally said.
``Clearly, most of the parameters of our economy are associated with a real slowdown,'' Mulally told reporters late yesterday at a dinner in Dearborn, Michigan. ``Everything has deteriorated more than we anticipated,'' which ``puts a lot of pressure on confidence of consumers.'' He
declined to say whether the U.S. was in a recession.
Ford ``wouldn't do anything different because of the stock price,'' Mulally said. The company will adjust production to lower vehicle demand and remains committed to returning to profitability in 2009, he said.
Ford is cutting jobs, closing plants and developing new models after a record loss of $12.6 billion in 2006. The company recruited Mulally, 62, that year from Boeing Co., where the executive headed commercial airline operations.
At Ford, Mulally wants to stabilize the U.S. share of its main Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands at 14 percent to 15 percent. The brands compose 14.8 percent of the domestic market in 2007.
The automaker, based in Dearborn, was surpassed in 2007 by Toyota Motor Corp. for No. 2 in U.S. vehicle sales, behind General Motors Corp. Ford had held the slot since 1931 and hadn't been No. 3 or worse since 1905. Ford hasn't posted a U.S. market share gain since 1995, when it accounted for one in every four cars and trucks sold.
Read Complete Story
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment