Ford vs. G.M

Ford vs. GM The author of this report is asked to compare two companies from the same industry. For the purposes of this report, those two companies shall be Ford and General Motors. A one page treatise will be offered for each company giving the history and performance of the two firms over time. Three years of financial data will be offered for each company including financial ratio data. Finally, a verdict will be offered as to which company (if not both or neither) are worth owning at this time.

General Motors General Motors has been around in some form since 1908 when it was founded in Flint, Michigan. General Motors was the global leader in sales for nearly eight decades until 2007 when it ceded that throne to Toyota. Not long after that, General Motors filed chapter 11 bankruptcy with heavy government involvement and guidance. The involvement was heavy because the United States government, as part of the bailout it gave General Motors, took over much of GM's stock. It has since sold much (if not all) of that stock off.

GM returned to profit in 2010 and is actually doing quite well right now. After 2008 and 2009 sales dips (in terms of units sold) of 22.9% (2008) and 30.1% (2009), GM has started to bounce back with growth rates of 6.3% (2010), 13.7% (2011) and 3.7% (2013). General Motors has 10+ percent market share in more than 12 countries around the world with the most notable being Canada, the United States, China and the United Kingdom. However, not all of the news has been good. GM has had to shutter or sell off some of its more famous brands.

These brands include Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Saturn and Hummer. Earlier on, they gave up on Geo, Daewoo and Lotus. They even used to be affiliated with Fiat in the early 2000's but that ended in 2005. Fiat is now heavily involved with Chrysler. GM's remaining active brands include Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac and its international brand like GM Korea. Ford Ford has actually been around a bit longer than General Motors, as they were founded in 1903.

Like General Motors, they were founded in Michigan, although Ford was founded in Dearborn rather than Flint. Ford has also had some extensive affiliation (or ownership) of international and luxury brands. Examples include Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo. At this time, Ford is the second-largest American car company and they are the fifth largest in terms of car sales as of 2010.

Ford has also struggled mightily at times in the last 10-20 years but one thing that they can say that GM cannot is that they did not take a government bailout (or government money of any other sort) during the recent economic crisis which is something that Chrysler and General Motors cannot say. Ford's brand offerings are a lot slimmer than General Motors, even when taking other nameplates into account. At this time, Ford is really limited to just its Ford flagship brand and Lincoln.

The prior-owned companies like Land Rover, Volvo, Aston Martin, Merkur and Jaguar were all sold off to other companies. Mercury, which was active since 1939, was eliminated by Ford in 2011. Much like GM and their Volt offering, Ford is also heavily involved in the use of hybrid and other fuel economy initiates. Examples include the hybrids they market like the Fusion Hybrid as well as their line of EcoBoost engines that are present even in their larger sport utility vehicles like the Ford Explorer.

They also offer engines in their small and large vehicles that can use E-85 ethanol fuel. Item 3 -- Part B Source: MarketWatch.com Item 3 -- Part C -- Roman NumeraI Current Ratio -- Ford Current Ratio - GM Item 3 -- Part C -- Roman Numeral II Debt to Equity Ratio.