UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                     FORM 4

                  STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

    Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
       Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
               Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

[   ] Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5
     obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).
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1. Name and Address of Reporting Person*

     Thornton,                        John                L.
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   (Last)                           (First)             (Middle)
     c/o Goldman, Sachs & Co.
     85 Broad Street
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                                    (Street)

     New York,                        New York            10004
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   (City)                           (State)              (Zip)


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2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

    Ford Motor Company
    (F)
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3. I.R.S. Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an entity (voluntary)

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4. Statement for Month/Day/Year

    December 20, 2002
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5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)


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6. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
   (Check all applicable)

   [ X ]   Director                             [   ]   10% Owner
   [   ]   Officer (give title below)           [   ]   Other (specify below)


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7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

   [ X ] Form filed by One Reporting Person
   [   ] Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

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                              Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of,                                          |
                                                 or Beneficially Owned                                                             |
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                          |            |          |           |                                |5.            |6.       |          |
                          |            |          |           | 4.                             |Amount of     |Owner-   |          |
                          |            |          |           | Securities Acquired (A) or     |Securities    |ship     |          |
                          |            |2A.       |3.         | Disposed of (D)                |Beneficially  |Form:    |7.        |
                          |2.          |Deemed    |Transaction| (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)            |Owned         |Direct   |Nature of |
                          |Transaction |Execution |Code       | -------------------------------|Following     |(D) or   |Indirect  |
1.                        |Date        |Date, if  |(Instr. 8) |               | (A) |          |Reported      |Indirect |Beneficial|
Title of Security         |(Month/Day/ |any(Month/|-----------|     Amount    | or  |  Price   |Transactions  |(I)      |Ownership |
(Instr. 3)                |Year)       |Day/Year) | Code  | V |               | (D) |          |(Instr. 3 & 4)|(Instr.4)|(Instr. 4)|
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                          |            |          |       |   |               |     |          |              |         |          |
Common Stock              |            |          |       |   |               |     |          |    26,635    |    D    |          |
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                          |            |          |       |   |               |     |          |              |         |          |
Common Stock              |  12/20/02  |          |   P   |   |      1,300    | A   |  $9.84   |              |    I    |     01   |
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                          |            |          |       |   |               |     |          |              |         |          |
Common Stock              |  12/20/02  |          |   S   |   |      1,300    | D   |  $9.91   |      -0-     |    I    |     01   |
====================================================================================================================================

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially
          owned directly or indirectly.

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction
  4(b)(v).

FORM 4 (continued)


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                    Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned                                 |
                            (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)                                         |
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               |     |        |    |       |            |                 |                       |        |9.       |10.   |      |
               |2.   |        |    |       |            |                 |                       |        |Number   |Owner-|      |
               |Con- |        |    |       |            |                 |                       |        |of       |ship  |      |
               |ver- |        |3A. |       |            |                 |                       |        |Deriv-   |of    |      |
               |sion |        |De- |       |5.          |                 |7.                     |        |ative    |Deriv-|11.   |
               |or   |        |emed|       |Number of   |                 |Title and Amount       |        |Secur-   |ative |Nature|
               |Exer-|        |Exe-|       |Derivative  |6.               |of Underlying          |8.      |ities    |Secur-|of    |
               |cise |        |cu- |4.     |Securities  |Date             |Securities             |Price   |Bene-    |ity:  |In-   |
               |Price|3.      |tion|Trans- |Acquired (A)|Exercisable and  |(Instr. 3 and 4)       |of      |ficially |Direct|direct|
               |of   |Trans-  |Date|action |or Disposed |Expiration Date  |-----------------------|Deriv-  |Owned    |(D) or|Bene- |
1.             |Der- |action  |if  |Code   |of (D)      |(Month/Day/Year) |             |Amount   |ative   |Following|In-   |ficial|
Title of       |iva- |Date    |any,|(Instr |(Instr. 3,  |-----------------|             |or       |Secur-  |Reported |direct|Owner-|
Derivative     |tive |(Month/ |(MM/|8)     |4 and 5)    |Date    |Expira- |             |Number   |ity     |Trans-   |(I)   |ship  |
Security       |Secu-|Day/    |DD/ |------ |------------|Exer-   |tion    |             |of       |(Instr. |action(s)|(Instr|(Instr|
(Instr. 3)     |rity |Year)   |YY) |Code |V| (A)  | (D) |cisable |Date    |Title        |Shares   |5)      |(Instr.4)|4)    |4)    |
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Ford Stock     |     |        |    |     | |      |     |        |        |             |         |        |         |      |      |
Units          |  02 |        |    |     | |      |     |   02   |   02   |Common Stock | 26,863  |        |  26,863 |  D   |      |
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Ford Stock     |     |        |    |     | |      |     |        |        |             |         |        |         |      |      |
Equivalents    |  03 |        |    |     | |      |     |   03   |   03   |Common Stock |  2,797  |        |   2,797 |  D   |      |
====================================================================================================================================

Explanation of Responses:

01: The Reporting Person is a Director, President and Co-Chief Operating Officer
of The Goldman  Sachs Group,  Inc. ("GS  Group").  Goldman  Sachs  International
("GSI") is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of GS Group. The Reporting Person
disclaims  beneficial  ownership of the securities reported herein as indirectly
owned except to the extent of his pecuniary interest therein.

The securities  reported herein as indirectly  purchased and sold were purchased
and sold and were  beneficially  owned  directly by GSI.  Without  admitting any
legal  obligation,  GSI or an affiliate  will remit  appropriate  profits to the
Company.

02:  These  Ford  Stock  Units  were  acquired  under  the  Company's   Deferred
Compensation Plan for Non-Employee Directors. In general, these Ford Stock Units
will be converted and distributed to the Reporting Person,  without payment,  in
cash, on January 10th of the year following termination of Board service,  based
upon the then current market value of a share of Common Stock.

03: These Ford Stock  Equivalents  were acquired under the Company's  Restricted
Stock Plan for Non-Employee  Directors  without payment by the Reporting Person.
In  general,  approximately  20%  of the  initial  grant  of  3,496  Ford  Stock
Equivalents will be converted and distributed to the Reporting  Person,  without
payment, in shares of Common Stock on June 1 of the 5 years commencing 6/1/2002.














By:  s/ Edward T. Joel                                      December 24, 2002
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      **Signature of Reporting Person                             Date
            Attorney-in-fact


**     Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal
       Criminal Violations.

       See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).

Note:  File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed.
       If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedures.


       Alternatively,   this  Form  is  permitted  to  be  submitted  to  the
       Commission in electronic  format at the option of the reporting person
       pursuant to Rule 101(b)(4) of Regulation S-T.