Rival Bankruptcies Spook Jealous Ford

(NEWSER) - Hoping to profit from its rivals' pain, Ford will ramp up this year's third-quarter production 10% over last year's, in a bid to grab market share from GM and Chrysler as they recover from bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’ll be Ford’s first production bump in nearly two years. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said a source from Ford, though he added, “No one is going to gift-wrap it for us. You have to deliver the product people want to buy.” More»

CEOs of America's automakers will renew plea for bailout today

(NEWSER) - The Big Three CEOs are heading back to Washington this week, and this time two of them will be driving, the Wall Street Journal reports—Alan Mulally in a Ford Escape hybrid, and Rick Wagoner in a Chevrolet Malibu hybrid. The CEOs will attempt Thursday to persuade Congress to extend them $25 billion in low-cost loans, based on reorganization plans to be submitted today. More»

Auto bailout throws good money after bad, goes against US capitalism itself

(NEWSER) - American prosperity relies on creative destruction—the failure of nonviable companies and their replacement by defter rivals. The government endeavors to protect the worker in periods of transition, writes David Brooks in the New York Times, but not the firms themselves. That’s why the auto-industry bailout is a bad idea: Extending the life of the Big Three means preserving their unworkable business models. More»

CEO convinces Ford family to dump 71-year-old line

(NEWSER) - Ford CEO Alan Mulally has convinced members of the Ford family to let him kill off one of the company's oldest brands, the 71-year-old Mercury. Mulally will soon seek official approval from Ford's board to pull the plug, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . Mercury was created in 1939 by Edsel Ford, as a step between cheaper Ford models and pricey Lincolns, but it lost its identity over the years: By the '80s, Mercury models were little more than Fords outfitted with different grilles and tail lights. More»

Automaker nabs car, truck of the year

(NEWSER) - Ford vehicles won both car and truck of the year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, cementing the carmaker's dominance over its domestic competition. The Fusion Hybrid snagged car of the year, and the company copped truck of the year for the second consecutive year with the Transit Connect. Ford was the only American auto firm to gain market share in 2009, CNNMoney reports. More»