Ford assessing exposure to Lehman

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) said on Tuesday it was assessing its exposure to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's LEH.N because two of its subsidiaries have served as lenders to the automaker.

Ford said Lehman Commercial Paper Inc had committed $890 million to an $11.5 billion revolving credit facility under a secured credit agreement reached in December 2006, all of which is presently unfunded.

Lehman Brothers Bank FSB also provides $238 million of facilities totaling $16.3 billion that support the retail securitization program of Ford Motor Credit Company LLC, Ford said.

The two Lehman subsidiaries were not included in the bankruptcy filing by the parent on Monday, said Ford, which is seen by analysts as having the strongest financial position of the three Detroit based automakers.

Ford secured more than $23 billion in 2006 from the capital markets and the automaker has said it has adequate liquidity to restructure its North American operations, despite the tough credit market conditions.

(Reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Andre Grenon)