FORD NEWS

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FORD SETS DISTRIBUTION RATIO FOR SPIN-OFF
OF THE ASSOCIATES

DEARBORN, Mich., March 13, 1998 -- The actual distribution ratio for Ford Motor
Company's [NYSE: F] spin-off of its 80.7 percent stake in Associates First
Capital Corp. [NYSE: AFS] to Ford common and Class B shareholders will be
0.262085 shares of The Associates for each Ford share owned as of the record
date on March 12, 1998.  The distribution date is April 7, 1998.

As announced on March 3, in addition to the spin-off, Ford will make a cash
distribution in lieu of The Associates stock to U.S. employee savings plan
participants who own Ford stock through the plans. The cash distribution will be
of equal value to the stock distribution on a per-share basis. These plan
participants will receive a cash distribution because stock in The Associates is
no longer being offered as an investment option in U.S. employee savings plans
as a result of the spin-off.

The distribution ratio was calculated by dividing 279,484,849, the number of The
Associates shares owned by Ford, by 1,066,390,822, which is the number of Ford
common and Class B shares outstanding on the record date of March 12, 1998,
which does not include the shares held in U.S. employee savings plans.




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