Ford 2002 Annual Report Download - page 61

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57
MANAGEMENT’S FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Management is responsible for the preparation of the company’s financial statements and the other financial information in
this report. This responsibility includes maintaining the integrity and objectivity of financial records and the presentation of the
company’s financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
The company maintains an internal control structure intended to provide, among other things, reasonable assurance that its records
include the transactions of its operations in all material respects and to provide protection against significant misuse or loss of com-
pany assets. Management believes that the internal control structure meets these objectives. The internal control structure is sup-
ported by careful selection and training of qualified personnel, written policies and procedures that communicate details of the internal
control structure to the company’s worldwide activities, and by a staff of internal auditors who employ thorough auditing programs.
The company’s financial statements have been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, independent certified public accountants.
Their audit was conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, which included consideration of the
company’s internal control structure. The Report of Independent Accountants appears below.
The Board of Directors, acting through its Audit Committee composed solely of directors who are not employees of the company,
is responsible for determining that management fulfills its responsibilities in the financial control of operations and the preparation
of financial statements. The Audit Committee appoints the independent accountants, subject to ratification by the stockholders.
It meets regularly with management, internal auditors, and the independent accountants. The independent accountants and internal
auditors have full and free access to the Audit Committee and meet with it to discuss their audit work, the company’s internal
controls, and financial reporting matters.
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders
Ford Motor Company:
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheet and the related consolidated statements of income, stock-
holders’ equity and cash flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Ford Motor Company and its
subsidiaries at December 31, 2002 and 2001, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three
years in the period ended December 31, 2002 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States
of America. In addition, in our opinion, the accompanying sector balance sheet and the related sector statements of income
and cash flows, presented for purposes of additional analysis, present fairly, in all material respects, the information set forth
therein when read in conjunction with the related consolidated financial statements. The consolidated and sector financial
statements (collectively, the “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Company’s management; our responsibility is
to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial state-
ments in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America, which require that we plan
and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstate-
ment. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial state-
ments, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall
financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
As discussed in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements, on January 1, 2002, the Company adopted Statement of
Financial Accounting Standards No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets”, which changed the method of accounting for
goodwill and other intangible assets. In addition, as discussed in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements, on January
1, 2002, the Company adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 144, “Accounting for the Impairment or
Disposal of Long-Lived Assets”, which changed the method of accounting for discontinued operations. Also, as discussed
in Note 17 to the consolidated financial statements, on January 1, 2001, the Company adopted Statement of Financial
Accounting Standards No. 133, “Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities”.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Detroit, Michigan
January 17, 2003
Allan Gilmour
Group Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
William Clay Ford, Jr.
President and Chief Executive Officer