• Reuters, Friday, January 27, 2006 12 PM

Ford Motor Co., currently in the throes of a massive restructuring designed to reverse a financial slide, says it wants to go it alone without any help from Uncle Sam. The automaker made its comments in response to speculation that bankruptcy and a federal bailout loomed as a probable solution to the company's woes. "At Ford, that couldn't be further from our minds," the company said in a statement. "We plan to compete and win by driving American innovation and building cars that consumers want." Ford's net income for 2005 fell by about $1.5 billion from a year earlier, and the company launched a massive restructuring this week that included proposed plant closings and the elimination of up to 30,000 jobs over six years. Ford rival General Motors, also feeling the pinch from foreign competition, recently announced a restructuring of its own. Congressional lawmakers have suggested changes in trade and tax policy to benefit U.S. manufacturers, including auto companies, but have not suggested a bailout.

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