Ford's Net Falls 20% as Auto Maker Feels Impact of Firestone Tire Recall
                    October 18th, 2000

                    A WSJ.COM News Roundup

                    DEARBORN, Mich. -- Ford Motor Co. reported a 20% drop in
                    third-quarter net income as it absorbed the impact of the massive recall
                    of Firestone tires.

                                         The auto maker on Wednesday posted net
                                         income of $888 million, or 53 cents a share,
                                         compared with $1.11 billion, or 90 cents a
                                         share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose
                                         7.5% to $40.06 billion from $37.28 billion in the
                    third quarter of last year.

                    Net from Ford's automotive operations dropped 27% in the latest
                    quarter to $391 million, taking a hit from the recall of 6.5 million
                    Firestone tires -- which mainly affected the Ford Explorer sport-utility
                    vehicle -- and the effects of production cuts related to the recall.

                    The quarterly results also reflect the spinoff of the company's Visteon
                    Corp. unit in June. Ford's net for the third quarter of 1999 included
                    $155 million, or 12 cents a share, from Visteon. Adjusting for Visteon
                    and Ford's "value-enhancement plan," the company said its earnings in
                    the latest third quarter were 50 cents a share, matching the
                    expectations of analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial.

                    "Getting our customers onto good tires has been, and continues to be,
                    more important than short-term profits," Jac Nasser, Ford's president
                    and chief executive, said in a prepared statement. "This was a difficult
                    quarter for our customers, our employees, our dealers and our
                    shareholders, and we are committed to quickly completing the Firestone
                    tire recall."

                    World-wide vehicle sales totaled 1.7 million, up 6.3% from 1.6 million in
                    the third quarter of 1999. World-wide automotive revenues totaled $33
                    billion, up $2 billion from the year-earlier period.