Ford 2009 Annual Report Download - page 58

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
56 Ford Motor Company | 2009 Annual Report
Risk Factors
Statements included or incorporated by reference herein may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations, forecasts, and
assumptions by our management and involve a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those stated, including, without limitation:
• Further declines in industry sales volume, particularly in the United States or Europe, due to financial crisis, deepening
recession, geo-political events, or other factors;
• Decline in market share;
• Lower-than-anticipated market acceptance of new or existing products;
• An increase in or acceleration of market shift beyond our current planning assumptions from sales of trucks, medium- and
large-sized utilities, or other more profitable vehicles, particularly in the United States;
• A return to elevated gasoline prices, as well as the potential for volatile prices or reduced availability;
• Continued or increased price competition resulting from industry overcapacity, currency fluctuations, or other factors;
• Adverse effects from the bankruptcy, insolvency, or government-funded restructuring of, change in ownership or control of, or
alliances entered into by a major competitor;
• A prolonged disruption of the debt and securitization markets;
• Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, commodity prices, and interest rates;
• Economic distress of suppliers that may require us to provide substantial financial support or take other measures to ensure
supplies of components or materials and could increase our costs, affect our liquidity, or cause production disruptions;
• Single-source supply of components or materials;
• Labor or other constraints on our ability to restructure our business;
• Work stoppages at Ford or supplier facilities or other interruptions of production;
• Substantial pension and postretirement health care and life insurance liabilities impairing our liquidity or financial condition;
• Worse-than-assumed economic and demographic experience for our postretirement benefit plans (e.g., discount rates or
investment returns);
• Restriction on use of tax attributes from tax law "ownership change;"
• The discovery of defects in vehicles resulting in delays in new model launches, recall campaigns, or increased warranty costs;
• Increased safety, emissions, fuel economy, or other regulation resulting in higher costs, cash expenditures, and/or sales
restrictions;
• Unusual or significant litigation or governmental investigations arising out of alleged defects in our products, perceived
environmental impacts, or otherwise;
• A change in our requirements for parts or materials where we have long-term supply arrangements that commit us to purchase
minimum or fixed quantities of certain parts or materials, or to pay a minimum amount to the seller ("take-or-pay" contracts);
• Adverse effects on our results from a decrease in or cessation of government incentives related to capital investments;
• Adverse effects on our operations resulting from certain geo-political or other events;
• Substantial levels of Automotive indebtedness adversely affecting our financial condition or preventing us from fulfilling our debt
obligations (which may grow because we are able to incur substantially more debt, including additional secured debt);
• Failure of financial institutions to fulfill commitments under committed credit facilities;
• Inability of Ford Credit to obtain competitive funding;
• Inability of Ford Credit to access debt, securitization, or derivative markets around the world at competitive rates or in sufficient
amounts due to credit rating downgrades, market volatility, market disruption, or other factors;
• Higher-than-expected credit losses;
• Increased competition from banks or other financial institutions seeking to increase their share of financing Ford vehicles;
• Collection and servicing problems related to finance receivables and net investment in operating leases;
• Lower-than-anticipated residual values or higher-than-expected return volumes for leased vehicles;
• New or increased credit, consumer, or data protection or other regulations resulting in higher costs and/or additional financing
restrictions; and
• Inability to implement our One Ford plan.
We cannot be certain that any expectation, forecast, or assumption made in preparing forward-looking statements will prove
accurate, or that any projection will be realized. It is to be expected that there may be differences between projected and actual
results. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of their initial issuance, and we do not undertake any obligation
to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.