NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) July 26, 2019--S&P Global Ratings today said that Ford Motor Co.'s (BBB/Negative/A-2) progress on its turnaround efforts in China and Europe is unlikely to offset profitability and cash flow pressure amid softening global demand. Although the company's second-quarter results narrowly remain within the tolerances of our negative outlook, a multitude of risks could delay or even thwart sustained EBITDA margin improvement toward our base case of 8% by 2021. Near-term product changeover costs and the rising possibility of a U.S. recession over the next 12 months could leave limited headroom for Ford to achieve its cost-reduction goals. Moreover, Ford will also have to maintain cost flexibility in its labor negotiations with the United Auto Workers
