Bookmarking
Auto on Info pages
Home or
Site Layout or
Site Index or
Quick Jumps or
Search Engine Directory or
The Mart
Auto
News, Analysis and EditorialFitch
Downgrades GM and GMAC Long-Term Debt; Moody's Reviews GM's and GMAC's Long-Term
Debt for Possible Downgrade and Affirms Ford's and Ford Credit's Long-Term Debt
Ratings
Links to Amazon.com
Info Sources The Wall Street Journal The Wall Street Journal Online The Asian Wall Street Journal Harvard Business Review BusinessWeek The Economist Laptop Computers Fine Jewelry Women's Watches by Dima To view more women's watch items, icons, and search phrases, click here. Auto on Info October 2004
Fitch Downgrades GM and GMAC Long-Term Debt; Moody's Reviews GM's and GMAC's Long-Term Debt for Possible Downgrade and Affirms Ford's and Ford Credit's Long-Term Debt Ratings
The Wall Street Journal reports that Fitch, Inc. downgraded General Motors' and General Motors Acceptance Corporation's long-term debt to BBB from BBB+.1 General Motors Acceptance Corporation is GM's finance arm that more recently has accounted for a large part of its profits, as its vehicles have become more difficult to push, even with very hefty discounts.
Separately, Moody's Investors Service stated that it is reviewing the long-term debt ratings of General Motors Corporation and General Motors Acceptance Corporation for possible downgrades.2
Also separately, Moody's Investors Service affirmed Ford Motor Company's and Ford Motor Credit Company's long-term debt ratings.2
Currently, Moody's accords GM and Ford the same long-term debt rating, Baa1.2 Last year, Moody's cut GM's long-term debt rating and Standard and Poor's cut Ford's long-term debt rating. (See Moody's Cuts General Motors' Long-Term Debt Rating to Three Notches above Junk, July 2003, and Ford's Credit Rating Nears Junk, November 2003.)
Each credit agency has its own long-term debt rating categories and performs its own reviews in deciding into which category a corporation's debt should fall.
A shift by Moody's may suggest that the financial markets have begun to favor Ford over General Motors in the quest by each for long-term survival. Nonetheless, equity investors still appear to view it a toss-up, as they accord the two corporations a roughly equal market capitalization. (See Toyota's Market Capitalization Exceeds the Combined Market Capitalizations of DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, and BMW, September 2004.)
1 "Europe's Car Makers Face Turmoil As Japanese Gain in Market Share," Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2004, p. 1A
2 "Credit Markets: Corporate Bonds," Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2004, p. C6
Automotive News Menu Pages Auto Manufacturers: Toyota - Honda - Subaru - Nissan - Ford - Chrysler - General Motors - Volkswagen Topics: Reviews - Recalls - Safety Investigations - Safety Test Results - Automotive Excellence - Automotive Dishonor, Discredit, or Demerit - Lawsuits - Automotive Finances - Car and Truck Sales and Market Shares - Auto on Info
Search Engine Directory This table is provided primarily to give the visitor quick access to those search engines that site manager has found to be more consistently useful for information acquisition. For descriptions, strengths, weaknesses, comments, and other names and formats by which the following search engines are known, go to Search Engine Directory Page. Search Engines Yahoo! Teoma Wisenut DMOZ Gigablast Metasearch Engine
Product Search Engine
Comments: Shopping at Amazon.com via this link helps support this site.
Auto on Info Standings for Selected Search Phrases on Auto News
Site Rank in Results for Search Phrase Car Quality News Site Rank in Results for Search Phrase Auto Quality News Site Rank in Results for Search Phrase Auto News First by Yahoo! Search from 5,230,000 results First by Yahoo! Search from 3,510,000 results Thirty-ninth by Yahoo! Search from 37,600,000 results First by MSN Search from 1,110,112 results First by MSN Search from 716,283 results Fifteenth by MSN Search from 7,682,302 results Fifteenth by Google from 3,730,000 results Tenth by Google from 2,400,000 results Eightieth by Google from 7,450,000 results Standings are as of 14/03/2004.
