Ford Motor Co. hired a former Goldman Sachs executive, Kenneth Leet, to study the company's operations and advise Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr. on possible steps to improve performance, including selling assets and forming partnerships with other automakers. Some questions and answers about the move:
Q .Why is Ford doing this now?
A .Two reasons. The Dearborn automaker is under pressure to do something after its extremely disappointing second-quarter performance. Ford reported a $123 million loss last week -- and revised that on Wednesday to a wider, $246 million quarterly loss.
Ford's "Way Forward" recovery effort is widely viewed as trailing crosstown rival General Motors Corp.'s turnaround, which appears to be gaining traction.
In addition, GM is studying a three-way alliance with France's Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. of Japan. That could potentially create a behemoth with a 24 percent global market share, dwarfing Ford.
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