Ford's Own Reliability Problem Weighs on Earnings
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Have you ever taken your car in for an oil change, only to end up paying to fix a handful of problems you didn’t know were there? That’s pretty much what happened to Ford last quarter.
As expected, it plunked down a pile of money to pay for a massive currency accident in Venezuela, but it had to cough up an extra $400 million to cover warranty costs on its old models and another $100 million to pay for shipment delays caused by a harsh U.S. winter. Together, snowstorms and clunky 2005 Thunderbirds are holding the company back, even as it focuses on stamping out a cutting-edge aluminum pickup and 22 other new vehicles this year.