As Ford marked its centenary with four days of celebrations, shareholders were reminded of the scale of the problems it faces in its centenary year.
"It's a very exciting time for us as a company, but it's also one fraught with peril because wrong decisions can be fatal," Bill Ford said recently. "But it's remarkable to me how resilient our business model has been over 100 years. If you think of industries over that same timeframe, most companies don't make it to 100."
Ford has been bleeding cash since the decision in 2001 to replace 13 million Firestone tyres on Explorer models cost it $3 billion and ended a run of record profits. A lack of investment in new models and outdated, inefficient factories added to the company's woes and prompted Mr Ford to step in as chief executive and launch a $9 billion revitalisation plan.
The opening of a new pick-up truck plant at its Rouge River complex is one of the most potent symbols of the nascent turnround. The site, near its Michigan headquarters, is intimately connected with the company's history as the location of Henry Ford's massive factory for the Model A, the successor to the Model T.
It also points the way to the future. When it opens next year it will be among the first Ford sites to use flexible production, producing nine different models on the same line, and will build the new version of the F-Series pick-up that is the company's biggest profit source.
Yet at the Rouge Ford is playing catch-up both to arch-rival General Motors and to Asian carmakers. According to Rod Lache, auto analyst at Deutsche Bank, Ford is the least flexible of all the big manufacturers, making an average of just two models per factory, against 3.5 at Nissan.
But Ford has bucked negative Wall Street forecasts since the turnround plan was unveiled. Ford has stuck doggedly to its forecast of 70 cents a share earnings this year.
It believes it can reach this because it has discovered the joys of cost-cutting. Under an aggressive programme run by David Thursfield, promoted from head of Ford Europe to Detroit last year, the company has already reduced costs by $638 million this year. It had previously expected only $500 million of cuts in the full year.
Mr Ford is positive about the company's future. But for the present he remains unhappy, with his job as well as the company's low profitability. "People have asked me if I am having fun. No, I'm not having fun yet. But I am getting a sense of satisfaction from seeing this company starting to turn," he said. - Financial Times