Ford Motor Company's earnings slipped 8% from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2011, but the company made headway against its debt, and did sell more cars during the quarter (commodity proces are blamed for the drop in revenue), the Detroit Free Press reports.  All in all, analysts seemed pleased with the report.  And Ford management struck a positive tone, with CEO Alan Mulally telling reporters the company "further strengthened [their] balance sheet and continued to invest for the future."

Much of that investment, it appears, will be in Asia.  In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mulally made the case for Ford's growth in the region--a region in which the company has lagged behind its competitors, US and otherwise.