Ford Motor

The Indian unit of Ford Motor Co. has apologized for advertisements that were chastised as tasteless and demeaning, including one that depicted former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in a car with a trio of bound and gagged women in the trunk. The illustrated ad showed a smiling Berlusconi behind the wheel of a Ford Figo, a subcompact manufactured by  Ford India Private Limited in Chennai, India. The ad featuring the Ford logo appeared over the weekend on the website Ads of the World without approval from the automaker.

First Nationwide Financial Corp. is expected to announce, perhaps as early as today, that a buyer has been found for the 81% of its stock now owned by steelmaker National Intergroup Inc. The leading contender appears to be Ford Motor, industry sources said Wednesday. Ford Motor Credit Co., the company's auto finance arm, was the nation's second-largest finance company at the end of 1984.

The two largest U.S. auto makers said Thursday that they plan to eliminate the use of chlorofluorocarbons--CFCs--in their manufacturing operations worldwide and in vehicles by the mid-1990s. The announcements by General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. appear to mark the most definitive plans yet by the industry to eliminate CFCs, which have been found to damage the Earth's protective ozone layer. Chrysler Corp.

Ford Motor Co. reported today that its first-quarter earnings were up nearly 105% from the same period last year, due to increased sales and reduced costs. Ford, again out-earning industry leader General Motors Corp., said it had record quarterly profits of nearly $1.492 billion, or $5.73 a share, on sales of $18.1 billion, up from profits of $728.3 million, or $2.70 a share, on sales of $14.79 billion a year ago. In 1986, Ford outperformed GM for the first time since 1924.

Ford Motor Co. customers will be able to buy some cars with air bags as optional safety equipment starting in March, Chairman Donald E. Petersen said today. Ford said the air bag system will be optional on Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz four-door sedans at a suggested retail price of $815. The air bag will be on the driver's side of the car, Ford said. The move makes Ford the first American car manufacturer to make air bags available to the general public.

AUTOMOBILES * General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. said they would join forces in an unprecedented alliance to develop a new six-speed transmission, saving millions of dollars in costs. GM already sells some truck transmissions to Ford for use in its medium-duty pickup trucks, and the world's two largest automakers have cooperated in other areas before. But they never have co-developed key vehicle parts. Such cooperation is more common across borders between the U.S.

More than 100 family members, close friends and personal staff members attended a private funeral today for Henry Ford II at Christ Church. Ford, 70, former chairman of the Ford Motor Co. and grandson of the company's founder, died Tuesday at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit of complications from pneumonia. Although security was tight, there were few curiosity seekers outside the light stone Episcopal church, built in 1928, where Ford's body was taken Thursday night.