Ford to pay down debt

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Ford to pay down debt

Bryce Hoffman / The Detroit News

Ford Motor Co. will prepay almost half of the $6.7 billion it owes on a revolving credit note due in 2013 as part of its ongoing effort to reduce its debt and strengthen its balance sheet.

The move was detailed in a filing this morning with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It said the company would make an early payment of $3 billion on April 6.

That will cut Ford's total debt to just under $32 billion and reduce the company's interest expenses.

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Ford executives have acknowledged that the company is still saddled with too much debt, putting it at a competitive disadvantage versus General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, both of which were able to erase much of their debt during their bankruptcy reorganizations last year.

Ford was the only U.S. automaker that did not file for bankruptcy and the only one to pass on a taxpayer bailout. That has left it with more debt, but also paid big dividends with consumers, allowing Ford to steadily increase its share of the U.S. market at the expense of its cross-town rivals.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100329/AUTO01/3290379/1148/Ford-to-pay-down-debt#ixzz0jZrf6zYz

[A Horse With No Name]

Awesome!

[67impss]

Good for the blue oval team I wanna see The Detroit Three healthy to beat back the foreign invasion

[A Horse With No Name]

The product is there, and I see lots of new domestics on the road around here...

[ShadowDog]

Wow, maybe this financial crash, coupled with big corporations putting a high priority on fiscal responsibility, will start to persuade consumers to stop going in the hole. The common person and communities can really start to turn around and succeed without owing oodles of future cash to banks and high rollers.

Lead the way Ford.

[daves87rs]

Good to hear!

[vonVeezelsnider]

This is more than PR methinks... Ford is way over-leveraged compared to GM or Toyota for example.