General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co reported far deeper-than-expected quarterly losses on Friday and said their rate of cash burn had accelerated, as an extended slump in car sales raised questions about the future of the U.S. auto industry.
Ford Motor Co. no longer expects to return to profitability by 2009 and is cutting North American production of pickups and SUVs for the rest of this year as high gas prices and the weak economy hurt sales, the company announced Thursday.
The billionaire financier Kirk Kerkorian made a dramatic move on another Detroit automaker Monday with an announcement that he had acquired a 4.7 percent stake in the Ford Motor Company and planned a $170 million cash offer for an additional 20 million shares.
Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally may be pulling a repeat: Turning around the No. 2 U.S. automaker in the same way that he helped revive Boeing Co., the world's second-largest aircraft maker.
