Ford CFO: Forging Strong Relationships

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Ford(F) CFO Lewis Booth said during his keynote address at a Treasury and finance awards conference here Thursday that Ford's less appealing balance sheet when compared with competitors' hasn't been a disadvantage to the company.

As the only one of the "big three" U.S. automakers not to take bailout money from the government at the height of the recent auto industry crisis, Ford has more debt than competitors GM and Chrysler -- both of which were able to cleanse their balance sheets after undergoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Ford CFO Lewis Booth

Booth said during his keynote speech that Ford didn't think Chapter 11 was a good business strategy for the company.

"I think it's really easy to focus just on our debt position vs. GM and Chrysler," Booth later told TheStreet on the sidelines of the conference. But "all the other advantages of not seeking bankruptcy protection far exceed the issues we still have, to clean up the balance sheet."

"We've been selling cars and trucks because of the strength of our product portfolio. But I think people have [also] given Ford a chance because we didn't take their money." Booth added that Ford's showrooms have improved massively over the last two to three years. "I think [car buyers] like what they see. Right through the difficult periods, we continued to invest heavily in products, and you can see we're getting a payback for that."

>> Ford CFO: The Turnaround Completed

As Ford continues to pay down debt -- the company expects to be cash neutral by the end of the year -- its relationships with suppliers and dealers, who are becoming increasingly profitable, continue to grow, said Booth. Booth said according to a survey, Ford is now viewed as one of the best car companies in North America to do business with both domestically and internationally.