Moody's Raises Ford's Debt Ratings DETROIT (AP) - Ford Motor Co. is getting its blue oval logo back. Moody's Investors Service raised Ford's debt ratings to investment-grade Tuesday for the first time in seven years. The upgrade means that all Ford's assets, including factories and the blue oval logo, are back in the company's hands and will no longer be used to secure the company's debt. Ford posted the assets as collateral in 2006 in order to get a $23.5 billion loan and avoid bankruptcy. "This is a great day for us and is the result of several years of hard work and progress by everyone associated with Ford," Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said in a statement. Ford needed two ratings agencies to upgrade it to investment grade to get its assets back. Fitch Ratings upgraded the company last month. Standard and Poor's has not get upgraded Ford, and said in March that it didn't expect to change Ford's ratings within the next year. "The key factor in our considering an investment grade rating for Ford was whether or not the company would be able to sustain its strong performance," said Bruce Clark, Moody's senior vice president. We concluded that the improvements Ford has made are likely to be lasting. Moody's said one of Ford's main strengths was its low break-even point in North America, the company's largest market. The ratings agency calculated that Ford has to sell only 1.8 million cars and trucks to break even. In the 12 months ended in March, Moody's said, Ford shipped 2.7 million cars and trucks in North America, 50 percent above the break-even point. Prior to its restructuring in 2009, Ford had to sell 3.4 million cars and trucks before it started earning a profit. Moody's also said Ford's cars and trucks are increasingly competitive with Asian automakers. Moody's also believes Ford can maintain its investment grade even in the face of a European downturn. "In addition, we believe that Ford will maintain a robust new product renewal program," the agency wrote. An investment-grade rating signals that a company's debt has a low risk of default. Companies with investment grade credit ratings generally pay lower interest on debt. Ford will also have an easier time borrowing for projects like new plants in Asia. Moody's also affirmed General Motors Co.'s credit rating of Ba1, one notch below investment grade, on Tuesday. Moody's said GM remains on track to return to investment grade within the next year. Ford lost its investment grade status in 2005 when it was racking up billions in losses as the SUV boom went bust. The company decided that a massive restructuring loan was worth risking its logo. The influx of cash helped Ford to revamp its cars and trucks and - unlike rivals General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group - avoid bankruptcy protection. Ford shares rose 16 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $10.36 in after-hours trading. Ford began its turnaround in 2006 when Bill Ford Jr. fired himself as CEO and hired Alan Mulally from aviation giant Boeing. The automaker used the billions it borrowed - which Mulally often calls a "giant home improvement loan" - to close plants, shed brands and cut its global workforce by one-third. Ford has paid back much of that debt. It also resumed paying a dividend in March for the first time since September 2006. Ford's former chief financial officer, Lewis Booth, said just before his retirement in April that getting the blue oval back would have an "enormous" psychological impact on the company after its wrenching turnaround. "For every person who works at Ford, anywhere in the world, that's a very precious thing," he said. The logo, which is recognized worldwide and appears on everything from baseball caps to scented candles, dates to 1965. Ford began replacing black and white ovals with blue ones that year, according to Ford corporate historian Bob Kreipke. The script in the center of the logo goes back even further. Harold Wills, a friend of company founder Henry Ford and a draftsman who helped design the first Model T, created the Ford script in 1912 using his grandfather's stencil set. Ford says it hasn't placed a value on the logo. But Interbrand, which tracks brand values, said the Ford brand is worth $7.5 billion, and it ranked Ford 50th out of its top 100 brands in a recent survey.