[JoosyJoos]

Ford was pretty cash rich when the crisis started. Hence one of the reasons they didn't have to solely rely on the government to bail them out. Ford was able to pay off a substantial amount of their debt as a cost cutting mechanism. I'm assuming their capital structure is more ideal now and allows them the tax saving benefits they need while avoiding huge debt payments. I'm not sure what BMW's capital structure looks like but they probably have more debt currently which could be effecting their bottom line. You also have to take into account the cash for clunkers program and the fact that demand was probably greater for more affordable vehicles than premium luxury brands simply based on the fact that only older vehicles qualified (generally correlated with lesser income individuals).