New York - The troubles of US car giants General Motors and Ford deepened on Thursday after credit risk appraiser Standard & Poor's cut their ratings to junk bond status.
The downgrades will drive the companies' borrowing costs up, making life even harder as they grapple with intensifying competition from Japan and falling sales of their ageing sports-utility vehicles (SUVs).
In a move that sent New York stocks into a tailspin, S&P said it was cutting its ratings for GM's long-term debt to "BB" from an investment-grade "BBB", and Ford's to "BB plus" from "BBB".
Echoing many in the investment community, S&P queried whether the managerial strategies of the top US car makers might not prove "ineffective" in addressing "mounting competitive challenges".
The downgrade means that many fund managers might be forced by their investment guidelines to dump billions of dollars of GM and Ford bonds. The two companies account for 10% of total US corporate debt.
Both companies have ample cash reserves, making the dangers of bankruptcy appear remote. But JP Morgan auto analyst Douglas Karson told the CNBC channel, "if you're not selling cars profitably, it's really hard to stay in business".
The companies said the downgrades did not fairly reflect their financial positions.
"GM is firmly committed to improving its performance as quickly as possible, and today's decision will not deter GM from achieving its objectives," company spokesperson Jerry Dubrowski said.
Ford's chief financial officer Don LeClair said: "We're disappointed that it discounts our considerable liquidity and our access to diverse funding sources, as well as the recent successes of our new products."
The S&P announcement came just a day after US auto shares were driven sharply higher by news that billionaire casino mogul Kirk Kerkorian was planning to double his stake in GM to 9%.
Saddled with huge social costs
Analysts saw the announcement as a vote of confidence in US car firms, which have lost market share to Japanese rivals and are also saddled with huge healthcare and pension costs for their workers.
But the S&P news served only to revive investors' fears for the sector's direction. In New York, the Dow Jones share index immediately headed lower with both GM and Ford shares slumping more than 5%.
S&P said its evaluation of GM was unaffected by the Kerkorian investment, while adding that the world's biggest car firm "should not have any difficulty accommodating near-term cash requirements" even after the downgrade.
But it noted that the SUV fleets on which both GM and Ford have become so reliant are not due to be revamped until 2006/07, too far off to help their current bottom lines.
S&P credit analyst Scott Sprinzen said sales of mid-size and large SUVs made by GM and Ford have "plummeted", while "industry-wide demand has evidently stalled, partly because of high gas prices".
Sprinzen noted that Toyota of Japan, GM's main rival to occupy the driving seat in the global car market, plans to introduce a large pick-up well before GM or Ford do in up to two years' time.
Outside of the United States, GM in Europe has failed to make money since 1999 and its losses this year are likely to be "substantial", S&P said. Even demand for GM cars in booming China has now turned down.
S&P had more or less the same appraisal of Ford, which in addition is saddled with underperforming units like Jaguar.
"The company has sought to be disciplined in its pricing strategy and selective in its discounting, but it cannot sustain market-share losses indefinitely," the agency said.