[drew54]

Unknown fact about Ford

http://http://www.thetruthaboutcars....either-do-you/

Ford doesn’t really even own its logo, having mortgaged the blue oval during its $23b borrowing spree.

This spree happened in 2006.

reportonbusiness.com: Ford off the dole, but for how long?

Over all, the numbers were ugly, but then, they're ugly everywhere. The real question is, what about the cash? Ford was able to avoid GM's cash crunch because it was better prepared for the auto industry's nuclear winter. Going into 2008, Ford had nearly $35-billion (U.S.) in cash. “The difference between Ford and GM and Chrysler comes down to the fact that when [Ford CEO] Alan Mulally took over two and a half years ago, he went out and mortgaged everything,” said Dennis DesRosiers of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. It even borrowed against the value of its trademark blue oval logo.

It looked desperate. It was prescient. The credit markets were easy and the rates were good. Ford raised about $23-billion. But last year, it burned through nearly all of that – $21.2-billion. (If you're keeping score, that's a cash burn of about $2.4-million per hour.)

I fear that it wont be long until Ford needs that 9 Billion line of credit from the Gov't.