Bailout Watch 367: Ford: A Bailout By Any Other Name…

Thanks to strangely prescient asset mortgaging, Ford has not yet joined Bailout Nation. Providing, of course, you discount its forthcoming share of the Department of Energy’s $25b no- to low-cost “retooling” loans (remember them?). But don’t get to thinking that FoMoCo doesn’t have its eye on the prize (federal succor). The Detroit News reports this morning that Ford’s lobbyists are hard at work in the teat suckling department. “Ford Motor Co. is calling on Washington to do more to stimulate the economy and get consumers back into its showrooms, after posting a record loss of nearly $14.6 billion for 2008 on Thursday.” Ready? “Anything that can incentivize the consumer, especially with regard to automobiles, would be great, because it’s such an important part of the economy,” CEO Alan Mulally told The Detroit News. “I know that they know how important the automotive sector is.” Cue “I’d do anything” from Oliver, substituting the word “money” for “love.” Anything? But what, exactly?

Unspecified. (There’s a lot of that going around these days.) The DetN’s Hoffman intimates that we’re talking about Ford’s backing of bailout bucks for Chrysler and GM. Methinks there’s more in play—clunker credits, battery grants, Ford Credit help, etc. And, eventually, their turn on the bridge loan to nowhere, uh, bridge.

“Auto analyst Rebecca Lindland of IHS Global Insight said Ford is playing a risky game by asking the federal government to help bail out the rest of the industry while trumpeting the relative strength of its cash position.

“It certainly helps Ford indirectly if the consumer can get some help and suppliers can get some help and, to some extent, it helps Ford if the industry as a whole starts doing better,” she said. “It’s an interesting strategy, because we’re not 100 percent convinced that they won’t need money at some point in time.”