Ford to Pay Out Health Care Fund;

Ford has done will for the first two quarters of 2010, but it has recently decided to make a major payment to a health care fund for UAW benefits. Other automakers such as Detroit Chevrolet and Chrysler have had to negotiate with the UAW for medical and other benefits as well. Foreign automakers such as Toyota and Volkswagen, whose models can be found at a Peoria Volkswgen Dealer, generally do not deal with the UAW. As for Toyota, recently Toyota Deals have been offered to boost sales after negative publicity.

The United Auto Workers Retiree Medical Benefits Trust is a division of the UAW that ensures retired workers are guaranteed medical benefits. The company will pay $859 million in its own stock in order to pay for the benefits which were agreed upon in a deal last year. Today, Ford's stock fell 55 cents which is 5.3 percent to $9.88 per share. The U.S. auto marker has been moving slowly over the past year, although Ford has still managed to make strides in sale, especially with their Mustang model which outsold the Camaro for the first time in many years last May.

Investors say that because Ford has decided to use stock instead of cash to pay for the retiree benefits, that it may be a sign of a weakness in the shares which may be an affect of the lagging U.S. automobile market. If Ford chose to pay in cash, it may have been a sign that the company anticipates their stock to rise in upcoming months.

However, even with a stock payment, Ford stocks could rise since investors will not have to deal with having less liquid funds available. The cash could be used to reduce debt or for other purposes by the company. Ford will hopes to continue its sales progress for 2010 and anticipates growth in several of its market shares.