Ford open to alliances, CEO says
Ford Motor Co. is examining whether alliances with other companies may be beneficial and is willing to consider all options, Chairman and chief executive Bill Ford said in an interview.
Speaking to Business Week magazine, Bill Ford said no automaker has approached Ford yet, but the company is looking at collaborations that might make sense.
The Wall Street Journal reported in its opinion section Wednesday that Bill Ford has approached Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Nissan Motor Co. of Japan and Renault SA of France, about joining their global alliance, should a deal between General Motors Corp. and Nissan-Renault not work out.
A Ford spokesman said the automaker wouldn’t comment on such speculation.
Ford, caught off guard in a market shift from trucks and sport utility vehicles to cars and crossover vehicles, lost $1.4 billion in the first half of this year, and it has cut production as inventories have swelled.
•In its first quarterly financial filing since going public in June, preppy retailer J. Crew Group Inc. on Thursday reported a wider loss from a year ago, weighed down by charges.
New York-based J. Crew said it had a loss of $2.76 million, or 8 cents a share, after paying preferred dividends to stockholders in its fiscal second quarter.
That compares with a loss of $1.63 million, or 7 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Excluding $10 million in costs associated with the refinancing of debt, J. Crew would have reported a profit of $13.3 million, or 21 cents a share.
That beat expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who on that basis had expected 17 cents a share on sales of $265 million.
Sales at stores opened at least a year, known as same-store sales, rose 16 percent.
•In the latest step by department stores to team up with high-end fashion designers, mid-brow retailer Kohl’s Corp. announced Thursday a union with Vera Wang, known for her $10,000 wedding gowns, to create a new fashion and lifestyle brand.
The exclusive brand called Very Vera by Vera Wang will be available in all 749 Kohl’s stores and on Kohls.com starting in the fall of 2007.