Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) Chairman Predicts Company Will Lose Investors to General Motors IPO

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) Chairman Bill Ford Jr. recently said that he believes his company may lose some of its investors to General Motors’ initial public offering, because investors may find a better deal with GM shares than keeping their shares in Ford. Ford noted that he does not want to give too much importance to the event, because he said that GM’s stock will ultimately depend on its performance.

“Some money will be rebalanced into GM, but look: our company and GM ultimately are going to succeed or not based upon performance,” said Ford, to a group of reporters at an event in Royal Oak, Michigan. “It doesn’t make any difference to me where our shares are or their shares are on any given day.”

General Motors Co. is currently owned 61% by the U.S. Treasury and the beleaguered automaker is in the process of generating enough through an IPO to come out of government control by repaying the bailout that it received.

In a Wednesday filing, General Motors Co. declared that it would have an IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. GM’s S-1 filing said that the IPO will consist of “common stock to be sold by certain of its stockholders and the issuance by the company of its Series B mandatory convertible junior preferred stock.” The pricing and amount of the IPO has not been disclosed yet, but some have speculated it could be near $16 billion.

Ford added that his company was enjoying “largely competitive” labor cost which would help his company compete over time. Ford said, “The question is: Is our business moving in the right direction and generating positive cash flow? … If we do that, we will be in great shape.”

Shares of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) traded down 0.11% on Friday ending the week at $11.77.