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Umm idiot reporter

FORD DID NOT RECEIVE ANY BAILOUT MONEY

FORD DID NOT RECEIVE ANY BAILOUT MONEY
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Thank you for pointing that out. Ford was not “Government Motors”.

https://www.thebalance.com/auto-industry-bailout-gm-ford-chrysler-3305670 Ford's Bailout Although Ford did not receive TARP funds, it did receive government loans.4 These were critical because banks were not lending during the financial crisis. It requested a $9 billion line-of-credit from the government. In return, it pledged to spend $14 billion on new technologies. On June 23, 2009, Ford received a $5.9 billion loan from the Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program. In return, it pledged to accelerate the development of both hybrid and battery-powered vehicles, close dealerships, and sell Volvo. It upgraded factories in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio to produce hybrid vehicles.28 Ford used its bailout to switch its focus to commercial electric vehicles. In 2016, CEO Mark Fields said, "We want to become a top player in electrified solutions. The company wants to lead…we can win such as with our commercial vehicles." Eighty-one percent of the funds went to create new efficiency technologies for gas-powered vehicles. For example, they helped fund Ford's aluminum bodies in the F-series pickups. The Congressional Research Service estimated the loans saved 33,000 jobs.29 Ford will repay this loan by 2022. Many argue that Ford needed the funds to sustain its cash flow during the recession. Ford says it was in better shape than the other two because it had mortgaged its assets in 2006 to raise $23.6 billion. It used the loans to retool its product lineup to focus on smaller, energy-efficient vehicles. It got the United Automobile Workers to agree it could finance half of a new retiree health care trust with company stock.30 By April 2009, it retired $9.9 billion of the debt it had taken out in 2006.