On Thursday, Ford Motor Company reported a loss of $12.7 billion, or $6.79 per share for the full year 2006.  Granted, about $9.9 billion of it was due to special items (early retirement buyouts and fixed asset impairment write downs, etc.)  But I wanted to put this into perspective a little.  The country of Zambia had a gross domestic output (GDP) (basically the entire economic output of the country) of $12.1 billion.  Rwanda, Jamaica, Niger, and Iceland all had GDPs of $12 billion or less.  In fact, according to World Bank data, about 40 countries have economic outputs that are less than what Ford lost last year.  It’s a pretty big loss.

Now, I’m not going to opine (le ...

To view the entire article:

• Click here to subscribe to everything for $400.00.

• OR click here just to purchase access to this article for $5.00.

Related Companies: Asbury Auto
AutoNation
DaimlerChrysler
Ford Motor Company
General Motors
Group 1 Automotive
Hertz (will replace Adesa in index Feb 1, 2007)
Honda Motor Company
Lithia Motors
Penske Automotive Group (formerly UnitedAuto)
Sonic Automotive
Toyota