egmCarTech

As Rick Wagoner is being ousted as CEO of General Motors by Obama and as Chrysler faces a “Fiat or bust” policy, Ford CEO Alan Mulally is hanging out in his 12th floor corner office at Ford’s Dearborn headquarters with a big grin on his face.

Mulally says that Ford is now competitive. ”Ford has won all of the concessions it needs from labor and investors to weather the industry’s crisis — even if car and truck sales continue to decline,” Mulally told Detroit News.  “The downturn is a temporary thing. We just have to make it through it.”

In December 2008, Ford joined General Motors and Chrysler in Washington to ask for a $9 billion credit line if auto sales continue to hit rock bottom by May or June. However, Ford has since cut its labor costs, bondholders have offered to swap debt for equity in the company and extreme cost-cutting measures have been put into action.

Mulally says that Ford has taken all the necessary step to respond to the global economic downturn even if March sales aren’t looking so good.

- By: Kap Shah

Source: Detroit News