Even in the event of a prolonged strike, Ford has a buffer. The company is sitting on $10 billion of cash net of debt and $47 billion in total liquidity. General Motors (GM.N) estimated a 40-day strike in 2019 led to $3.6 billion of operating losses. Such pain wouldn’t be pretty for shareholders, but it’s hardly a cash problem.
That bundle of dough is also a tempting target. Take Farley at his word that Ford would have lost $15 billion over the last four years if the UAW’s wishlist had been in place. That implies around $9 billion of extra costs in North America. Sure, that might push free cash flow negative this year. But for now, profit is at the heart of this dispute.(By Jonathan Guilford)
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