Ford: Back in Black

Like You Know Who, Ford is Back in the Black

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After reporting last week that Ford will cease being irrational and start selling the European-market Focus in the United States, I was literally beside myself with joy when I read that Ford has just turned over $1bn in profit in the third quarter. This is easily one of the greatest return from death stories since Lazarus walked out of the tomb or Neil Patrick Harris got a hit show again. Okay, maybe Doogie isn't back, but Ford has all the marks of a patient set to make a full recovery.
Like many headlines drawn from statistics, the devil is in the details. Yes, Ford has brought in more than it spent. However, it still has serious debts issues and will need to renegotiate with the UAW to be competitive with GM and Chrysler LLC in the long run. Also, Ford saying that it will be "solidly profitable in 2011" is as meaningless as worthless as the Zimbabwean dollar. If everything stays as it is right now (here's an insider tip: it won't) then Ford will be fully in the black. Something tells me there are some potholes and an injury or two up the road. All the same, let's celebrate the first solid application of polish to what had been one of the more tarnished names in the automotive field. Ford is proof positive that when a business is actually managed, rather than simply taken advantage of and its capital reserves of history squandered, it will succeed. Funny thing, that.