Latest News
Ford might be putting on a brave face at the Detroit motor show, but trouble is not far behind.
The US state of Michigan is giving the Blue Oval a £155m ($300m) grant to help keep six factories in the state open.
In return, Ford is offering neither to create any new jobs nor to keep any existing jobs open, but it is promising to invest £447m to upgrade its Michigan factories.
Impressive as that investment may sound, it's no more than is essential to keep the factories open and working, while Michigan's subsidies amount to almost £12,000 per worker.
Ford made losses of around £3.7billion in the first nine months of 2006, and is planning to shut over a dozen US factories and shed 45,000 jobs this year.
Even if Ford's restructuring plan is successful, it will be at least three years before it returns to profitability.
Your Say
News archive
Today's hottest stories
Join the debate
Our Say
Autocar's team blogs.
Your Say
Join the debate in our forums.