When Ford CEO Alan Mulally took out massive loans in 2007 with the entire company serving as collateral, it looked like a desperation move by an automaker on the ropes. Come 2009, Mulally started looking like a genius. Thanks to those loans, Ford didn't have to ask the government for loans or file bankruptcy, and thus didn't earn the public scorn that its cross-town rivals did.
On top of that PR victory, Ford was a big beneficiary of the "Cash for Clunkers" program (Ford vehicles, particularly 90s Explorers, were some of the most common C4C trade-ins as well). And, thanks to some well-timed products like the 2009 F-150 and 2010 Fusion, its sales dropped slower than the market as a whole and the Blue Oval finished 2009 with a bigger share of the market.
Looking forward (and past the looming release of the Fiesta), Ford has enough product in the pipeline to build on its victories in 2009.
