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Struggling Ford Motor Co., which posted a record $12.7 billion net loss in 2006, and posted a $2.7 billion net loss in 2007, think they merit receiving federal loans. Why should we bail out a fiscally irresponsible automobile maker that continued to make gas guzzling trucks and SUV’s? After posting the largest record loss in company history in 2006, what did Ford do to bounce back from such a devastating loss? They hired a new CEO Alan Mulally and paid him a record setting 28 million for 4 months of work. In the same year, Ford moves ahead with plans to close plants and cut more than 30,000 hourly positions from the company in an effort to stem losses.
Well that brainstorm apparently didn’t pay off–if that same CEO is asking the government for a bailout. This is exactly why I don’t believe in government loans, in the form of bailouts, all of the CEO’s get these multi-million dollar deals which is more money than 95% of us will ever make in a lifetime. Only in America do we reward complete incompetence at a CEO level.
On top of that, these executives have accumulated so much wealth off the backs of people like you and I through cutbacks and layoffs. So what was the first task of importance to Mulally when he was hired? Oh, the company had disclosed in a footnote buried on page 228 of an earlier filing with SEC that Mulally saw the value of his stock bonuses increase to $6 million from the originally agreed upon $5 million “after reviewing the company’s 2006 performance results and Mr. Mulally’s leadership role in progressing his key priorities.” But, most salaried workers and supervisors received a modest bonus between $300 to $800, depending on their location and rank in the company that same year.
Recently, Ford initiated an ad campaign that makes the statement, “Ford’s quality is now equal to Toyota’s.” Unfortunately, this ad campaign may not be as effective for Ford as it is for Toyota. It implies two things- that Ford quality has been poor and that Toyota quality is the standard of excellence to reach. Toyota has been the most profitable car company in the world for a long time. Last year, it officially passed GM to become number one in worldwide sales; and it has passed Ford to become number two in US sales.
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