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SCOTT JAGOW: It’s hard to believe just a few years ago, Ford ranked as one of the world’s most profitable companies.

This morning, the carmaker turned in its balance sheet for 2006. Ford lost an unthinkable $35 million a day. That’s $12.7 billion for the year — by far, it’s worst year ever.

Micki Maynard covers the auto industry for the New York Times.

MICKI MAYNARD: This huge loss that Ford had for the year is mostly restructuring charges. On the other hand, even when you comb through that and look at their operating loss, it’s worse than Wall Street expected.

Ford spent a ton of money buying out employees. It was also hit pretty hard by a drop in sales.