Ford Reaches for the Jumper Cables

Shares of Ford, meanwhile, are up almost 8% as recent speculation that the automaker would follow in the footsteps of its larger rival has powered its shares forward.

Douglas Karson, an auto analyst with Bank of America, said in a recent note to clients that it's unlikely that Ford will go private, because the cost of buying back its equity would eat up cash that the company needs to turn around its business.

"Ford would be in a dangerous place if its uses all of its asset-sale flexibility capital to buy the market capital rather than use it to fix the core business," Karson said in the report.

Craig Hutson, a senior bond analyst with bond research firm Gimme Credit, also said a public-to-private transaction seems unlikely.

"I don't see what they would have to gain from that, other than the opportunity to operate away from the public eye, but I'm not sure that would make much of a difference," says Hutson.

BNP Paribas' Rubin says Ford wouldn't even have to sell its finance business if it slashes its production deeply enough soon. He says the company could sell off its Lincoln and Mercury brands, and most of the Premier Auto Group, which includes Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and Aston Martin, and fund its turnaround in North America with the proceeds on a much smaller scale.

"They shouldn't wait until 2012 to close these plants and cut their payrolls," says Rubin. "I know it's easier said than done, but you have to do what you have to do, and Ford needs to be a lot smaller than it is."

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