Ford swings to surprising profit

(Reuters) - Ford also said it is exploring a sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover luxury units, a spin-off Ford executives said they now view as probable.




The No. 2 U.S. automaker further said it is conducting a strategic review of its Swedish luxury nameplate Volvo -- widely considered Ford's most valuable luxury brand -- that it expects to conclude by the end of the year.


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Ford to invest 675 mln euros in Romania carmaker

(Reuters) - "If the Ford bid is successful, the company would commit to investing 675 million euros in the site to upgrade and modernize the plant in line with global Ford Motor Company standards," Ford said in a statement.




Ford's strategy for the Craiova-based plant was discussed on Monday at meetings between Romania Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu and Ford of Europe President and CEO John Fleming.


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UAW chief says not in "concessionary mode"

(Reuters) - "It won't be an issue for us," Gettelfinger said, speaking on the sidelines of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People event in Detroit. "We are not going in to these negotiations in a concessionary mode."




General Motors Corp , Ford Motor Co and Chrysler Group face a crucial round of contract talks with the UAW beginning this month.


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Ford offers month-end incentives

(Reuters) - The sale, which begins on Thursday and runs through July 9, will offer an additional $2,007 in cash to customers buying 2007-model Ford, Lincoln or Mercury trucks or sport utility vehicles.




The announcement comes after larger rival General Motors Corp. said on Tuesday it would offer qualified buyers zero-percent financing for three years with an additional $1,000 cash on select vehicles.


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Fuel plan backed by carmakers offered in Senate

(Reuters) - The bipartisan alternative offered by Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, and Christopher Bond, a Missouri Republican, would require cars, sports utilities and pickups to get better mileage over time, but is weaker than the chief plan approved by the Commerce Committee in May.




Financially struggling carmakers, including General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler Group, have lobbied fiercely against the commerce measure, arguing that it would break their backs.


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U.S. Stock-Index Futures Pare Losses; Ford and Sapient Advance in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures recouped
losses. Shares of Ford Motor Co. and Sapient Corp. led gains
among stocks traded in Europe.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in September
added 1.1 to 1508.6 at 11:31 a.m. in London after falling as much
as 3.8 earlier. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures decreased 3
to 13,418. Nasdaq-100 Index futures advanced 1.5 to 1919.5.


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RPT-U.S. automakers look to shift huge health-care burden

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, June 10 - U.S. automakers faced with
enormous retiree health benefits costs may well join other
large U.S. companies in shifting more of the long-term risks of
meeting those obligations to workers.




Among the biggest companies now dealing with the choking
costs of health-care benefits agreed to in more prosperous
times, General Motors Corp. , Ford Motor Co. and
Chrysler would not be alone if they shift responsibility for
maintaining those programs to workers and the unions that
represent them.


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Fiat mulled buying Jaguar and Land Rover-report

(Reuters) - Marchionne and and Lewis Booth, head of Ford's Premier
Automotive Group , which also includes Volvo, ended the
talks in late May as Fiat was worried about its credit rating,
Automotive News Europe said quoting sources familiar with the
discussions.




Fiat declined to comment on the report which was circulated
in Germany on Saturday and is due to be published on Monday.


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U.S. auto sales rebound after weak spring

(Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. bucked the trend by posting a decline of 10 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, in May sales. Ford also surrendered the industry's No. 2 spot to Toyota for the month.




GM , which beat Wall Street expectations with a nearly 5 percent sales gain, cut its forecast for industrywide sales in 2007 but said retail sales likely had stabilized after a weak spring that had raised concerns about a deepening slump tied to a slower U.S. housing market.


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GM, Ford Trounce Toyota's Shares, Bonds; Chrysler Buyout Buoys Investors

(Bloomberg) -- In case you missed it, General Motors
Corp. and Ford Motor Co. outperformed Toyota Motor Corp. in the
stock market the past 12 months. The next year may be no
different as Cerberus Capital Management LP seeks to turn
Chrysler around.

Armed with a $12 billion war chest, the private-equity firm
can take a hard line in July-to-September labor contract talks
with the United Auto Workers. That will benefit all of the Big
Three U.S. automakers because contract settlements at one company
usually form the basis for agreements at others, analysts said.


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GM, UAW reach deal on "jobs bank"

(Reuters) - GM and its Detroit-based rivals, Ford Motor Co



The "jobs bank" program, which the automakers and the union created in the 1980s, is expected to be one of the hot-button issues up for discussion.


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UPDATE 1-Fremont sells property loan business for $1.9 bln

(Reuters) - Fremont also said it had agreed to sell a minority stake in
the entire company to an investor group led by Gerald Ford, the
former chief executive of Golden State Bancorp Inc., for about
$80 million in the form of preferred stock and warrants to buy
more common shares.




Fremont shares jumped 19.5 percent to $8.50 in premarket
trading.


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