Ford has hired three banks to bail it out of financial difficulty with a $15bn (€11.4bn) debt package, which will be the first credit to be secured against the automaker's manufacturing plants in the company's 103-year history.

Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan will underwrite the $15bn of debt for Ford, including an $8bn five-year senior secured revolving credit facility and a $7bn senior secured term loan.