3rd Quarter Bruises Big 3

At least two of the U.S. Big Three were being hammered by Wall Street even before unassuming third-quarter earnings were announced.

Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford Jr. is vowing to leave the capital-expenditures budget untouched in the face of accelerated cost-cutting as the auto maker reports results in which losses were stemmed at $326 million, down from losses of $692 million in last year's third quarter.

Ford's red ink included a charge of $525 million related to the sale of Kwik-Fit and other businesses, plus other special one-time items. On an operating basis, Ford earned $220 million. Automotive lost $243 million on an operating basis, Ford says, although its $50 million in red ink in North America marked a $799 million improvement from like-2001. Europe, where losses worsened by $97 million to $121 million in the quarter, proved a problem.

DaimlerChrysler AG says its third quarter net profit fell 22% to $771 million, down from $991 million a year ago, as progress made in its turnaround effort in the U.S. was offset by lower income at Mercedes-Benz and Smart.

The shining star during the quarter was the Chrysler Group, which reported further progress in its restructuring efforts. The U.S.-based unit posted operating profits of $301 million during the quarter, compared with a $264 million loss in like-2001.

Like General Motors Corp., DC says weak equity market performance worldwide has placed added pressure on meeting pension obligations. DC's pension fund is expected to be underfunded by $5.4 billion by the end of the year.

GM reported a third-quarter loss of $804 million, or $1.42 per share, on revenues totaling $43.6 billion. The loss comes after a pre-tax write-down of $2.2 billion of its 20% equity stake in Fiat Auto SpA annihilates what would've been a healthy operating profit.

GM's year-ago results included a loss of $368 million or $0.41 per share. This year's third-quarter results beat most predictions and caused GM's recently free-falling stock price to rally.