Ford ups U.S. vehicle production

DEARBORN, Mich., June 2 (UPI) -- Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it would increase U.S. production by 10,000 vehicles this quarter, an option unavailable to Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp.

While its rivals downsize in bankruptcy court, Ford could continue to increase its domestic market share as customers turn away from GM and Chrysler, The Detroit News reported.

"Ford has ample financial resources" and has been "very successful in growing its market share during this period," a government official told the News.

However, a Ford executive who wished to remain anonymous complained that with government support GM has "an unlimited spigot."

"The scary part is all will be forgiven and they will have cleared their books (of debt) better than us," the executive said.

Even with its reduced capacity, "GM will still emerge (from bankruptcy court) with leverage," Mark Oline at Fitch Ratings said.

But Ford, he said, was "much father along" in the process of restructuring its vehicle lineup "and so is much closer in our view to being competitive and able to generate positive cash flow," he said.