Ford, GM Face Writedowns, Analyst Says

A weakening used car market could hit Ford(F Quote) and General Motors(GM Quote) with big writedowns, a Lehman Brothers analyst wrote Friday.

Ford's financing arm may write down $1.1 billion and GM's could write down $1.5 billion, as the automakers find the residual values of leased vehicles has dropped significantly, Lehman analyst Brian Johnson wrote. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that about three quarters of the leased vehicles are light trucks, which have fallen out of favor with consumers, who are seeking more fuel efficient rides amid soaring gasoline prices.

Both automakers last month said they were shifting production away from sport utility vehicles and trucks and emphasizing more fuel efficient cars and trucks.

Ford shares were down 3.8% to $6.08 in recent trading, while GM was down 3.7% to $14.24.