But they did take a GOVERNMENT LOAN:
Ford took $6B government loan in 2009 — and debt still haunts company
Detroit Free Press
More than a decade after the last economic crisis, Ford Motor Company is still paying down a fat government loan created by Congress at the start of the Great Recession to aid automakers with factory projects.
Critics at the time focused on General Motors and Chrysler, each declaring bankruptcy and accepting government bailout loans through the U.S. Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to reorganize during the auto crisis that hammered the industry between 2008 and 2010. Meanwhile, Ford took a different path.
But in the end, it accepted a government loan, too.
The debt remains on Ford books today as the company navigates a pandemic.
In September 2009, Ford entered into an agreement with the Department of Energy and borrowed $5.9 billion as part of a loan program created to finance automotive projects designed to help vehicles built in the U.S. meet higher mileage requirements and lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
The company is one of three auto recipients currently listed on the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program site.
While critics of government assistance, including Ford executives, still focus on the government bailouts, few have mentioned in recent years the loan program that handed out money during the same time period explicitly to shore up automakers.
Ford says its all-electric Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype race car can hit 1,400 horsepower. The prototype race car is powered by seven motors and a 56.8-kilowatt-hour battery.
Then-CEO Alan Mulally is praised for having the foresight to mortgage everything just prior to that crisis, including the Blue Oval, because Ford was in trouble before anyone else and took action before anyone else.