S&P upgrades Ford

Standard & Poor's said it raised the corporate credit rating on Ford Motor Co. and Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC to BB- from B+ and the counterparty credit rating on FCE Bank plc to BB from BB-.

The agency upgraded Ford's senior secured debt issues to BB+ from BB with a recovery rating of 1, indicating expectation for 90% to 100% recovery.

S&P also raised Ford's debt to B+ from B with recovery rating of 5, indicating expectation of 10% to 30% recovery.

The outlook is positive.

"The upgrade reflects our reassessment of Ford's business risk profile to fair from weak, and its financial risk profile to significant from aggressive," S&P analyst Robert Schulz said in a statement.

Underlying business risks remain high, including exposure to a potentially weak recovery in vehicle demand and very competitive conditions in Europe, eventual return to more typical levels of industry volatility in sales and production, high dependence on light trucks and full-size pickups, and substantial execution risk of its ongoing repositioning and expansion, according to the agency.

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