Ford Motor Co., now ranked as investment grade by all major credit-ratings companies, said a gradual rise in interest rates would boost its balance sheet and help offset the higher costs to finance car sales.
Rising interest rates are having a "hugely favorable effect" on Ford's pension obligations, Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said today in an interview. Shoring up the pension shortfall, which ratings companies treat as debt, would blunt the impact of higher costs of funds for Ford Motor Credit, the Dearborn, Michigan-based company's lending unit.
"On the assumption that it's sort of a progressive increase to normalized rates, consistent with an improving economy, I think we'll be fine," Shanks said in Bloomberg's Detroit bureau. "Overall, that's good news for the company."
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited Treasury & Risk content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
- Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world case studies, and other critical content
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
