The company itself was struggling.

Mr. Lay said, 'The company is probably in the strongest and best shape that it's ever been in.' Was it? No.

That's backwards. What should occur is we should take the charges that we needed to take and then deal with the consequences.

No. Again, we wanted to alleviate that concern.

The company immediately began cooperating with the State Attorney's Office and did its best to clean house.

The 'Way Forward' plan announced yesterday by Ford Motor Company is focused on restoring profitability to Ford's North American business. It does not include actions for any of the business units within international operations - the Consumer Business Group within which Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) operates.