So the upshot of the auto bailout is that two of the Big Three automakers, General Motors and Chrysler, will get fed loans — with strings — worth $17.4 billion. Ford, which has more cash on hand than the others and a hefty line of credit with banks that it presciently negotiated in 2006, is banking on being able to induce concessions — on its own — from the United Automobile Workers union.
Look for Ford to use the bailout scenario as part of a marketing pitch. It might not say: “Our Business is Cars – Not Bailouts” but it will connote that “Ford Has A (Much) Better Idea.”