GM's Profits Blow Ford Away, Partly Due to Old Product Line

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General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. recently announced earnings for the fourth quarter and the full year of 1995, and what a contrast.

Selling mostly old products at rock bottom prices, GM earned a record $6.9 billion for 1995, a 40 percent increase from 1994. In the fourth quarter alone, GM earned $1.9 billion, a 19 percent rise from the previous fourth quarter. The higher earnings also came on lower overall vehicle sales.

Meanwhile, across town, Ford saw its earnings go south. For the year, Ford earned $4.1 billion, down 22 percent from 1994's record $5.3 billion. Worse, in the fourth quarter, earnings plummeted 58 percent to $660 million from 1994's $1.6 …