Ford reported the largest quarterly loss ever. A closer read of the article reveals that Ford did not actually lose this much cash failing to sell cars and trucks. Rather various asset write downs constitute most of the loss, though there was a loss selling vehicles. The ability to read and process such information is another reason for studying accounting. After all Warren Buffet says he reads accounting reports, and invests accordingly.
As we mentioned in the previous post, there have been massive strategic mistakes at the major US based auto makers. Ford and GM are losing about a billion or so a month. Plans to introduce this or that in 2012 may be a bit late to save the day! The two companies can only last as long as the cash holds out. However we give the current Ford CEO the coveted Rearranging the Deck Chairs on the Titanic Award for his comment amidst all the record loss that
We got to the capital markets at the right time to borrow the money……
Professor Elam 
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