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Ford has best first quarter in 13 years with $2.6-billion profit

StillBallin75

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Ford profit: Ford reports earnings of $2.6 billion in first quarter - latimes.com

Brisk sales and higher prices helped Ford Motor Co. to one of its best first-quarter profits in years. Ford said Tuesday it earned $2.6 billion, or 61 cents a share, in the first quarter of the year, compared with a profit of $2.1 billion, or 50 cents a share, during the same quarter a year earlier.

It was the automaker's best first quarter since 1998.

Revenue rose to $33.1 billion from $28.1 billion. In morning trading, Ford shares were up 48 cents, or 3%, to $16.02.

"Our team delivered a great quarter, with solid growth and improvements in all regions," said Alan Mulally, Ford's chief executive.

Good for them.
 
what ?? they made money with those damn unions there? how the hell did that happen?:mrgreen:
Well, because the union agreed to sweeping cost cuts back in 2009. Now that the company is making money again, the union wants back in. Good quarter. Fun while it lasted I guess:
Now that Ford is back in the black, the United Auto Workers union wants to recover the perks it gave up over the past few years as the auto giant teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.

Rhetoric is flaring ahead of negotiations this summer for the UAW's next four-year contract. More than 1,000 delegates from the union are meeting in Detroit this week to strategize for those negotiations.

The talks will encompass labor agreements with the Big Three automakers, but Ford's impressive profits may make the company a target for union representatives looking for a bigger share of the wealth. Union members also have more leverage with Ford, since Ford workers did not agree to the no-strike clause approved by employees at General Motors and Chrysler.

Bill Johnson, who represents workers at a Ford plant in Wayne, Mich., told the Detroit Free Press that if Ford does not restore "everything" to the union, "the membership is going to knock it down."
UAW Says Ford Workers Ratified Concessions - WSJ.com
 
Wow, you mean unions are willing to sacrifice for the good of the company but expect that the company will return the favor once things are rolling again?

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE
 
what ?? they made money with those damn unions there? how the hell did that happen?:mrgreen:

That's $2.6B that should go into Obama's account. :mrgreen:
 
what ?? they made money with those damn unions there? how the hell did that happen?:mrgreen:

They were forced to do it or become fish food by union thugs carrying out their own agenda of selifshness and greed in the name of the International Communist Movement. ;)
 
Which means they are ripping off all their customers.

It's rare that a business that tries to rip off all of its customers all the time would be able to post these kinds of profits :roll: Except only under extreme circumstances people don't buy **** if they don't think they're getting a fair deal.
 
It's rare that a business that tries to rip off all of its customers all the time would be able to post these kinds of profits :roll: Except only under extreme circumstances people don't buy **** if they don't think they're getting a fair deal.

Where did that preposterous profit come from? Over charging a family of five struggling to make ends meet who should have paid at least a couple thousand less.

They should build a big ship with the money. Load it with all the stockholders and hit a massive ice berg. And sing Nearer My God To Thee.
 
Wow, you mean unions are willing to sacrifice for the good of the company but expect that the company will return the favor once things are rolling again?

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE

Or they sacrificed to save themselves. Michigan has been in a downward spiral of unemployment for quite some time. Companies were leaving that state before the recession even thought about beginning. If Ford had gone under, or had moved out of the state or country to try and maintain itself then those people would have been completely out of work. They would have had to uproot their families and move for a chance at a job.

I'll be the last person to paint unions as heroes and I hardly think they were being selfless here. It was pretty much a choice between "more likely to keep my job if" and "can we afford to move to Texas or another positive-growth state if this collapses?"...
 
Where did that preposterous profit come from? Over charging a family of five struggling to make ends meet who should have paid at least a couple thousand less.

They should build a big ship with the money. Load it with all the stockholders and hit a massive ice berg. And sing Nearer My God To Thee.

you seem to not get how economics works. If a consumer thinks they're getting a ****ty deal (of if they just plain can't afford it) they won't buy. Thus, the supplier won't sell and will post no profit :roll: There's very few instances in economics where money is made by ripping people off, and the auto industry is definitely not one of them.
 
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I'll be the last person to paint unions as heroes and I hardly think they were being selfless here.

You just highlighted a free market principle of organized labor. Organized labor has a self interest not to bankrupt or unseat the company for which they work. It can't be argued that unions "bully" corporations in this day and age when corporations are fully capable of up and moving to a nonunionized area. Unions have to maintain a balance between negotiating the perks they want without incentivizing the company to set up shop elsewhere.
 
Where did that preposterous profit come from? Over charging a family of five struggling to make ends meet who should have paid at least a couple thousand less.

They should build a big ship with the money. Load it with all the stockholders and hit a massive ice berg. And sing Nearer My God To Thee.

Being a stockholder of Ford I guess I should be ticked off. But as the stock is up nicely today I will let it pass.
 
you seem to not get how economics works. If a consumer thinks they're getting a ****ty deal (of if they just plain can't afford it) they won't buy. Thus, the supplier won't sell and will post no profit :roll: There's very few instances in economics where money is made by ripping people off, and the auto industry is definitely not one of them.

By all means get whatever you can during a massive national emergency. What did the government ever do for you? Oh that's right lending you tens of billions of dollars to save your sorry asses. That's the government, the family with 3 kids. Them the people.
 
What's wrong with them making a profit? I thought that was one of the beauties of being a part of a capitalistic economic system.

Another beauty of this system is the fact that Ford isn't the only company that makes cars. So, therefore, if you don't like their prices, buy from another company.
 
By all means get whatever you can during a massive national emergency. What did the government ever do for you? Oh that's right lending you tens of billions of dollars to save your sorry asses. That's the government, the family with 3 kids. Them the people.

What the **** are you even talking about. Consumer demand GOES DOWN during recessions. People don't even have the money to afford getting ripped off. And for the record, Ford didn't even get bailed out by the government.
 
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What the **** are you even talking about. Consumer demand GOES DOWN during recessions. People don't even have the money to afford getting ripped off. And for the record, Ford didn't even get bailed out by the government.

Like the rich don't continually rob people blind! Nobody makes 100 million dollars without the infrastructure and the wealth created by our grandfathers. Thieves. Selfish thieves who don't want to share their toys.

And why don't they ever do stuff to help the poor? Why do our schools totally suck? Why do college students have to starve while they study? Why do the elderly have to suffer spending cuts ? "Ma'am, we'll be needing your wheel chair back. You wouldn't mind just dying, would you? My wife wants this really expensive endangered animal fur coat and you're not helping any."

Why are there groups like Fred Phelps causing so much anguish? Can't a rich person just make the problem go away? No they can't because they don't give a damn about the poor or anybody. They are just their slaves.
 
Like the rich don't continually rob people blind! Nobody makes 100 million dollars without the infrastructure and the wealth created by our grandfathers. Thieves. Selfish thieves who don't want to share their toys.

And why don't they ever do stuff to help the poor? Why do our schools totally suck? Why do college students have to starve while they study? Why do the elderly have to suffer spending cuts ? "Ma'am, we'll be needing your wheel chair back. You wouldn't mind just dying, would you? My wife wants this really expensive endangered animal fur coat and you're not helping any."

Why are there groups like Fred Phelps causing so much anguish? Can't a rich person just make the problem go away? No they can't because they don't give a damn about the poor or anybody. They are just their slaves.

This has nothing to do with the OP. Ford is not robbing people. I sincerely hope that you're just trolling.

And I can't believe how many times I, as a liberal, have had to defend corporations against moronic comments from people who don't understand how economics works on this board.
 
Where did that preposterous profit come from? Over charging a family of five struggling to make ends meet who should have paid at least a couple thousand less.

They should build a big ship with the money. Load it with all the stockholders and hit a massive ice berg. And sing Nearer My God To Thee.

It came from customers who will no longer support gm and chrysler because they took the govt bailout money. Many people were not happy with that deal and now it is beginning to show.
 
Where did that preposterous profit come from? Over charging a family of five struggling to make ends meet who should have paid at least a couple thousand less.

They should build a big ship with the money. Load it with all the stockholders and hit a massive ice berg. And sing Nearer My God To Thee.

Why would a family of 5 who is struggling to make ends meet buy a new car or truck? When I was younger and had no money, a thousand dollar ride was what we drove.
 
Which means they are ripping off all their customers.

I'd like to go back to the days when profit wasn't an evil word and bankruptsy was.

If a company doesn't profit how the hell are they going to expand or investest in new technologies?
 
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