Ford ended the first quarter with a knee-wobbling $34 billion in debt, but the Blue Oval has been making good on its bills in impressive fashion over the past three months. The automaker has paid off $7 billion in loans in the second quarter, saving the company $470 million in annual interest payments.

The latest debt reduction came when the company paid $860 million in cash to its VEBA retirement health care fund that was due. With its pocketbook already open, Ford doled out another $2.9 billion to complete its VEBA obligation. Ford could have used stock to pay off the fund, but the company instead reaped a two-percent discount for shelling out cold, hard cash instead. Ford paid down another $250 million in securities to bring the total dollar figure to $4 billion. Ford now has $27 billion in outstanding debt and the company expects to be solidly profitable for 2010.



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