Ford is focused on cash management with the economy still a major concern rather than the competitive positions of its U.S. rivals who have gone through bankruptcy, Ford's chief financial officer Lewis Booth said yesterday.

Booth said General Motors and Chrysler have "slightly cleaner" balance sheets than Ford after the Obama administration financed sales of their businesses, but the rivals also face a range of continuing problems he described as "bankruptcy residue."

Ford, meanwhile, remains focused on improving its balance sheet "by somewhat less extreme methods than going through bankruptcy," Booth told Reuters in an interview at Ford headquarters.

"There is no argument that one of the benefits of going through bankruptcy is that you improve your balance sheet, but there are lots of other disadvantages attached to bankruptcy.

"So we are staying focused on our plan to improve our business, to continue to finance ourselves, to continue to be in charge of our own destiny and be winners," he added.