[Despite its strong quarterly performance, the Mercedes unit has yet to prove that the worst has passed.] Certainly the performance over the last couple of quarters has been better, but Mercedes is earning a fraction of what it had been previously, ... It's still very much a turnaround in the works. |
At this juncture, it's our conclusion that this isn't a far-fetched possibility if the kind of deterioration in results we've seen over the last few quarters should continue. |
Ford has experienced a marked deterioration in its pension funding levels due to poor investment portfolio performance, |
General Motors and Ford Motor Co. are being challenged operationally and financially in North America as never before. |
Given the current environment with gasoline prices, the fact that GM's major actions are so heavily weighted in mid- and large SUVs, that seems problematic, |
Given the current environment with gasoline prices, the fact that GM's major actions are so heavily weighted in mid- and large SUVs, that seems problematic. |
If GM got all the benefits of a Chapter 11, that would leave Ford in a situation that certainly couldn't be stable. |
In the past we might have felt at different points that the concerns about bankruptcy risk were way overplayed. |
In the past, we might have felt at different points that the concerns about bankruptcy risk were way overplayed. |
Market share for these two companies has eroded significantly, and sales of their most profitable products have plummeted. |
Product design issues are also an important concern here, as the companies have shown little ability to foresee market trends, such as the demand for crossover utility vehicles and gasoline-electric hybrids, |
Public sentiment regarding such vehicles has turned more negative than previously. |
These actions should be sufficient to maintain positive net liquidity in 2002, even with weaker earnings performance, ... But those aren't actions that can be relied on indefinitely. The future of the company relies on an earnings rebound. |
These actions should be sufficient to maintain positive net liquidity in 2002, even with weaker earnings performance. But those aren't actions that can be relied on indefinitely. The future of the company relies on an earnings rebound. |
They've been skilled in their product development. But they, like their domestic competitors, are very dependent on light truck profitability. They've introduced some new S.U.V.'s at a point when that market is under a cloud. |