HSE2

The good news is that Ford's fourth-quarter losses were a wee bit less
than Wall Street had been predicting, $0.48 a share compared with a
consensus forecast of $0.50. The bad news is that it may take awhile
before things improve, industry analysts warn. On a net basis, adding in
various charges-most connected with the automaker's new restructuring
plan-Ford lost $5.07 billion in the final quarter of 2001. A year
earlier, it earned $1.1 billion. For the full year, Ford went $5.45
billion into the red, its first full-year loss since 1992, and a marked
reversal of its $3.5 billion net profit in 2000. Desperate to reverse its
declining fortunes, Ford announced plans earlier this month to cut 35,000
jobs worldwide-about 10% of its workforce-close five plants in North
America, with two others endangered, and drop four low-profit vehicles.
In a prospectus released in advance of a new debt offering, Ford
acknowledged, "We expect to incur significant losses in our automotive
segment in 2002," confirming observers concerns it may be near mid-decade
before things improve significantly.