Pricing Supplement No. 148 Dated November 19, 1997
(To Prospectus and Prospectus Supplement Rule 424(b)(3)
Dated October 24, 1996) Registration Statement
No. 33-64237
U.S. $5,000,000,000
FORD MOTOR CREDIT COMPANY
Medium-Term Notes Due from 9 Months to 30 Years from Date of Issue
Ford Motor Credit Company ("Ford Credit") has designated $80,000,000
aggregate principal amount of its Medium-Term Notes Due from 9 Months to 30
Years from Date of Issue having specific terms set forth below. Merrill
Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated has agreed to purchase the Notes
at a price of 99.75% of their principal amount for resale at an initial
public offering price of 100% of their principal amount. After the initial
public offering, the offering price may be changed.
Issue Date: November 24, 1997
Principal Amount: $80,000,000
Interest Rate Basis: Fed Funds Rate, as described below
Spread: Plus 30 basis points (0.30%)
Interest Reset Dates: Daily as hereinafter provided
Interest Payment Dates: The 27th day of the months of November,
February, May, and August commencing February
27, 1998
Stated Maturity: November 27, 2000
Reference Agent: The Chase Manhattan Bank
MERRILL LYNCH & CO.
DESCRIPTION OF NOTES
The following description of the particular terms of the Notes offered
hereby supplements, and to the extent inconsistent therewith replaces, the
descriptions of the general terms and provisions of the Notes set forth in
the accompanying Prospectus Supplement and of the Debt Securities set forth
in the accompanying Prospectus, to which descriptions reference is hereby
made. All terms used but not defined herein which are defined in the
accompanying Prospectus or Prospectus Supplement shall have the meaning
therein assigned to them.
INTEREST
Interest on the Notes will be payable quarterly on the 27th day of
February, May, August and November of each year, commencing February 27,
1998, until the principal thereof is paid or made available for payment as
provided in the Indenture, to the person in whose name any Note is registered
on the close of business fifteen days preceding each Interest Payment Date.
The Notes are not subject to redemption prior to the Stated Maturity.
The per annum interest rate on the Notes (the "Interest Rate") in effect
for each day of an Interest Period will be equal to the Federal Funds Rate
plus 30 basis points (.30%). The Interest Rate for each Interest Period will
be reset on each Business Day, commencing with November 24, 1997 (each such
day an "Interest Reset Date"), to but excluding the day on which the
principal hereof is paid or made available for payment (the "Principal
Payment Date"); provided, however, that the first Business Day preceding any
Interest Payment Date or the Principal Payment Date, as the case may be,
shall be deemed not to be an Interest Reset Date. "Interest Period" shall
mean the period from and including an Interest Reset Date to but not
including the next succeeding Interest Reset Date or the Principal Payment
Date, as the case may be, and in the case of the last Interest Period in an
Interest Payment Period, from and including the second Business Day preceding
such Interest Payment Date or the Principal Payment Date, as the case may be,
to but not including the next succeeding Interest Reset Date or the Principal
Payment Date, as the case may be. "Business Day" shall mean any day that is
not a Saturday or a Sunday and that, in The City of New York, is not a day on
which banking institutions are generally authorized or obligated by law to
close. "Interest Payment Period" shall mean the period from and including an
Interest Payment Date, or in the case of the first such period, November 24,
1997 to and including the day prior to the next Interest Payment Date and, in
the case of the last such period, from and including the Interest Payment
Date immediately preceding the Principal Payment Date to but not including
the Principal Payment Date.
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The "Federal Funds Rate" shall mean the rate determined in accordance
with the following provisions:
For each Interest Reset Date, The Chase Manhattan Bank (the
"Reference Agent"), as an agent for the Company, will determine
the Federal Funds Rate which shall be the rate for Federal Funds
for the Business Day immediately preceding such Interest Reset
Date which appears on Telerate Page 120 under the heading "FED
FUNDS EFFECTIVE -- EFF", as of 11:00 a.m. New York City time on
such Interest Reset Date; or, if such rate is not so published by
11:00 a.m. New York City time on such Interest Reset Date, the
Federal Funds Rate shall be the rate for Federal Funds for the
Business Day preceding such Interest Reset Date as published on
such Interest Reset Date in "Composite Quotations" under the
heading "Federal Funds/Effective Rate." If on the Calculation
Date pertaining to such Interest Reset Date such rate is not yet
published in Composite Quotations, the Federal Funds Rate for
such Interest Reset Date will be calculated by the Reference
Agent and will be the arithmetic mean (rounded, if necessary, to
the nearest one hundred-thousandth of a percentage point, with 5
one-millionths of a percentage point rounded upwards) of the
rates for the last transaction in overnight Federal Funds
arranged by three leading dealers of Federal Funds transactions
in The City of New York selected by the Reference Agent as of
11:00 a.m., New York City time, on such Interest Reset Date;
provided, however, that if the dealers selected as aforesaid by
the Reference Agent are not quoting as mentioned in this
sentence, the Interest Rate for the Interest Period commencing on
such Interest Reset Date will be the Interest Rate in effect on
the preceding Interest Reset Date.
"Telerate Page 120" means the display page so designated on
the Dow Jones Telerate Service (or such other page as may replace
that page on that service for the purpose of displaying the rate
for Federal Funds). "Composite Quotations" means the daily
statistical release entitled "Composite 3:30 P.M. Quotations for
U.S. Government Securities", or any successor publication,
published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The
"Calculation Date" pertaining to any Interest Reset Date shall be
the Business Day following such Interest Reset Date, provided,
however, that with respect to the last Interest Reset Date in an
Interest Payment Period, the Calculation Date shall be such
Interest Reset Date.
The amount of interest for each day that the Notes are
outstanding (the "Daily Interest Amount") will be calculated by
dividing the Interest Rate in effect for such day by 360 and
multiplying the result by the principal amount of the Notes. The
amount of interest to be paid on the Notes for each Interest
Payment Period will be calculated by adding the Daily Interest
Amounts for each day in the Interest Payment Period.
The interest rate on the Notes will in no event be higher
than the maximum rate permitted by New York law as the same may
be modified by United States law of general application.
The rate and amount of interest to be paid on the Notes for
each Interest Period will be determined by the Reference Agent,
as agent for the Company. All calculations made by the Reference
Agent shall in the absence of manifest error be conclusive for
all purposes and binding on the Company and the holder of this
Notes. So long as the Federal Funds Rate is required to be
determined with respect to this Global Security, there will at
all times be a Reference Agent. In the event that any then
acting Reference Agent shall be unable or unwilling to act, or
that such Reference Agent shall fail duly to establish the
Federal Funds Rate for any Interest Period, or that the Company
proposes to remove such Reference Agent, the Company shall
appoint itself or another person which is a bank, trust company,
investment banking firm or other financial institution to act as
the Reference Agent.
