Ford Reenters Bidding for Kia, Asia Motors

Ford Motor Co. jumped back into the bidding for South Korea’s debt-laden Kia Motors Corp. and sister firm Asia Motors Inc. South Korea’s Big Three auto makers--Hyundai Motor, Daewoo Motor and Samsung Motors--also submitted bids in the third international auction for the two auto firms. Analysts said Ford is best positioned to win the bidding this time because of South Korea’s need for foreign capital and the U.S. car maker’s longtime business ties to Kia. In September, Ford dropped out of the second of two failed auctions, citing Kia’s heavy debt load. Ford and its affiliate, Mazda Motor Corp. of Japan, already hold a 16.9% stake in Kia. Earlier this month, Kia’s major creditor, Korea Development Bank, said it would allow bidders to propose their own debt write-off conditions in the third auction. The winning bid will be announced Oct. 19. In a separate development, Ford announced a new performance-based incentive compensation plan for its 50,000 salaried workers in the U.S. and Canada that could tie bonuses to measures such as quality and customer satisfaction in addition to sales and profit. Ford said the plan would make it the first of Detroit’s Big Three to extend the broader performance profit-sharing plan through its salaried ranks.