Ford car giant announces record loss of $12.7 billion

By: Phillipa_Green

Ford Motor Company, the once mighty car giant announced a slump in sales in the fourth quarter of 2006, resulting an a record loss of $5.8 billion, raising the year to date loss to $12,7 billion, by the far the largest in the companies 100 year history. Nearly doubling the previous record reported during the depths of the 1992 recession of $7 billion. The loss amounts to an estimated $2000 for every vehicle sold.

The losses are expected to continue in 2007, with an estimate of $10 billion, as Ford strives to restructure the company dominated by large pensions liabilities and competition from mainly cheap Japanese car makers such as Toyota which are expected to be further boosted by the falling yen.

Despite the rollout of new product lines, including the Edge crossover and new F-series pickup trucks, analysts are skeptical that this will be able to turnaround the companies fortunes,

Ford shares ended the session at $8.22, Down 50% in over 2 years, though up from recent lows of $6.

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