Dearborn, Mich. — Ford Motor Co. has announced that it plans to borrow approximately $18 billion "to address near- and medium-term negative operating-related cash flow, to fund its restructuring and to provide added liquidity to protect against a recession or other unanticipated events,” reported AutoRemarketing.

The new debt includes an $8 billion secured credit line that will replace an existing unsecured $6.3 billion loan, Ford said. The company — which hopes to complete the financing by the end of the year — also plans to obtain a $7 billion secured term loan and $3 billion in unsecured funding, which may include notes that can be converted into Ford common stock.

The size of the components of the financing may change depending on market conditions, Ford stated.

Ford needs the infusion of cash to cover the costs of labor reductions and factory closings at its North American automotive unit, which has posted losses in eight of the past nine quarters and has lost $7 billion in the first nine months of 2006. The company has offered buyouts and early retirement packages to all 75,000 of its U.S. production workers and plans to shut down 16 plants.

Ford is using its U.S. plants, other U.S. automotive assets and all or parts of units such as Ford Motor Credit Co. and Volvo as collateral for the new debt.