Stacy94PGT

Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) - June 24, 2003

Cologne, Germany (dpa) - Ford-Werke AG, the German subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company, fell deeper into the red in 2002 amid a drop in sales and higher investments, the company said Tuesday.

Ford-Werke said it lost 340 million euros (393 million dollars) last year, compared with 80 million euros in 2001.

Chief executive Bernhard Mattes noted that Ford-Werke carried out 744 million euros of investments to prepare for the manufacture of new car models, a major factor in last year's losses.

Turnover fell to 15.9 billion euros last year, from 16.3 billion euros in 2001.

Mattes told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa: "Due to the extremely difficult environment in the automobile industry we did not reach the targets we had set for ourselves in 2002."

Since Ford-Werke exports 77.5 per cent of its production, the weakness of the European car market also contributed to last year's losses, he noted.

A small bright spot was that Ford increased its market share in Germany by 0.1 per cent to 8.2 per cent.

"With the investments, we want to strengthen our market position," Mattes said about its spending on new plant equipment last year.

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Stacy94PGT
My first car was a 67 Mustang Coupe, 2nd one was a 67 Cougar XR-7, 3rd one was a 66 Mustang Coupe. Why did I get rid of these cars for ? I know why, because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid.

My next Ford.....