Ford generates praise for Detroit
USA Today did something unusual: It was motivated by a company's earnings report to write a glowing editorial.
The result is "Billion dollar Ford," a tribute to the $1 billion profit that Ford Motor Co. unexpectedly generated in the third quarter that moves the McLean, Va.,-based newspaper to say: "Ford is ... an example of what the others (GM and Chrysler) can become."
Of course, part of the reason Ford is profitable is because it didn't take the federal bailout money and subject itself to the political machinations of the Obama administration and Congress. It doesn't have to bring plants or facilities out of mothballs or off the shutdown list -- like GM has had to do for Vice President Joe Biden (a reopened Delaware plant) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (a suddenly spared Massachusetts facility).
USA Today also focuses on the recalcitrance of the UAW rank and file, which recently rejected giving Ford similar concessions it gave GM and Chrysler as part of the bankruptcy process. The editorial board calls it "a reminder of what still can go wrong."
"As long as labor fails to acknowledge the realities of a fiercely competitive industry, neither workers' prosperity nor Ford's will be assured," USA Today opines.
But after getting bashed for so long, the domestic auto industry deserves the tribute that Ford has earned.
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mercantilist
Ford seems to have had better decisions than Chrysler of G.M. - not a big accomplishment. Some of the Ford success is at the expense of American workers Fusion and the new Fiesta are among the products built in Mexico. It is too bad that Ford did not offer more employment to the UAW in exchange for concessions. The Ford family's way of doing business recently included a rapid move move from Pontiac after briefly talking about Silver Dome concessions. The speed of their response in that case suggests that the move was already well planned. Will Ford take cash from the Mexican government and again stick it to American workers and taxpayers.
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