Many market observers and industry analysts seemed genuinely shocked late last month when Ford Motor Co. reported net annual income of $2.7 billion. An American automaker in the black — for 2009? Such an occurrence hardly seemed likely given that it was just over a year ago, in November 2008, that the chief executives of the nation’s Big Three automakers — Chrysler, General Motors Corp. and Ford — were summoned to Capitol Hill to justify their request for a $50 billion lifeline.
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That request sparked populist anger, coming as it did on the heels of Wall Street’s initial $700 billion bailout, and the anger exploded into outrage when taxpayers learned that the CEOs had flown to Washington in separate private jets to plead for public assistance. The move only seemed to underscore the widespread perception of the auto industry as a culture of profligate spenders with an unbridled sense of entitlement; they could adapt or die.
Chrysler and GM eventually received federal funds, though much less than originally requested and with government demands that they restructure their operations and increase efficiency — and both companies filed for bankruptcy protection just a few months later.
But Ford was different. Chief executive Alan Mulally flew to Washington not to ask for money, but as a show of solidarity with his peers and to secure a government-backed line of credit, should his ....