http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/...est=latestnews

Ford Motor Co. says it earned $2.1 billion in the first quarter, another sign the economy is improving as people spend more on big-ticket items like cars.

 

It's funny how all that bailout money helped GM and Chrysler.

 

Quote from the article.

So even with the piles of cash the government threw at GM/Chrysler they still can't get their **** together.

 

hasent GM paid the money back?


something that just screams at me, and maybe i am wrong, is the Toyota effect.

is it possible that Toyotas problem have spilled over to more people buying Ford and GM. If that is the case, isnt it obvious to the American people what the effects are of consummers buying foreign products.

i dont like it, but i understand all the china product being purchased at walmart and buying an American product costing more.
However Ford and GM are very competitive on all levels, why arent we trying to keep more of our money at Home? I have never owned a foriegn car.

Yes they have plants here and employee people here, but policy is set in Japan and that is also where the profits go.

 

I am seeing more and more ford's lately. A ton of 09's and up f150,expys, tauruses... more than I have ever seen in the past. Those Ford Transits are everywhere all of a sudden

 

That's what their commercial said. No word from Chrystler yet.

This is proof that good management and future proofing a company is one the most important things they can do to stay afloat.

 

The article I read said that a lot of Toyota people in the market bought Fords during the 1Q 2010. Now I hope these people realize in 5 years that their Ford is likely as good or better than any Toyota they would have purchased.

 

It was fancy footwork with the books to make it appear GM has paid back the loan from the taxpayers. GM actually is having to draw in more money from outsiders right now. They are in more debt now than before.

 

Yes, they paid the loan part back. Using money from a different TARP fund. That does not include the money that the Gov't gave them in exchange for part of the business. A much larger amount.

 

GM played a shell game with the money to make it seem as if they paid their bailout money back early. Lawmakers have caught on and are now calling GM on it.

 

They paid ONE of the loans back.

The commercial they had that boasted "we paid our loans off" pissed me off. They still owe like $49 Billion. I knew the CEO was full of it when he said it only because I pay attention to business news. I wonder how many thousands of ill-informed people got duped by the BS commercial?

 

Yes and no: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2005...the-government

Essentially, GM's commercial is a lie.

 

Does that surpise anybody? I'm not defending GM by any means, but many company commercials are lies or stretched truths. They are desperate and it shows.

That said, it appears that they are coming around on at least getting their products somewhat up to date. But, Ford has the advantage without a doubt.

 

It could have just as easily been Ford.

They were there asking for money the first go around too, and mysteriously backed off and decided they didn't need it.

 

Actually they said we don't need money at this time but we may in the future if things don't work the way we are expecting.