Ford Motor Corp

The Big 3 appear in danger of losing their Big Mo'. Stocks of the three major U.S. auto makers have surged in recent weeks, making them one of the market's strongest sectors so far this year. But judging by Wall Street's decidedly neutral stance toward the companies, investors might soon hit the brakes on the stocks' momentum.

Ford Motor Co. is warning dealers and customers of a defect in the rear lift-gate on some 2002 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer sport-utility vehicles, dashing the car maker's hopes for a flawless launch of the redesigned models. Ford said Tuesday that the rear lift-gate glass on some new Explorers and Mountaineers may shatter or detach when shut.

Ford Chairman Alex Trotman feels perplexed--albeit upbeat--about the public's mixed reaction to Ford's new Taurus, which went on sale last September. During an interview in mid-February he drew a recent newspaper story from his pocket describing sales as "dreary." "Our sales force put in a tremendous performance in January," he said, somewhat annoyed. Indeed, Taurus sales in January were 30,052, as compared with the previous January's 29,958 "Feedback from our dealers is good.

Ford Motor Co. will pay $3.8 million in a settlement with the Labor Department over charges of discrimination against women and minorities in hiring at seven of the auto maker's plants, federal officials said Friday. Ford has also agreed to hire 100 female and minority applicants who were turned down for entry-level assembly-line positions at the plants and will compensate other applicants for lost wages, as they are located.

Ford Motor Co. is putting its Lincoln line on a diet as it tries to shake an image of making land yachts for grandpas. The Lincoln LS6 and LS8, unveiled Tuesday, are about the size of BMW's 5-series sedans, considerably smaller than the models for which Lincoln is best known--the Town Car and Continental. They will go on sale next spring as 2000 models. Ford did not announce prices for the new LS cars.

Ford Motor Co. plans to offer side air bags on all of its cars within three years, becoming the first major American auto maker that will make widely available a safety feature that is becoming increasingly more common. Ford, which made the announcement Wednesday at an auto show in New York, doesn't yet offer side air bags in its U.S. models. The company said it will have side air bags as standard equipment or options in all of its models in three years. General Motors Corp.

Ford Motor Co. said it paid an average $6,700 in profit-sharing to U.S. hourly workers, down 16% from the record amount a year earlier. The average is second only to the $8,000 paid last year for 1999 in the 18 years that the Dearborn, Mich.-based auto maker has had profit-sharing, a company spokesman said. The payments for 2000, announced in January, go to about 110,000 workers and are based on U.S. profit and sales, excluding some nonautomotive units. Ford's earnings in 2000 fell 1.8% to $6.