Pricing Supplement No. 4 Dated October 7, 1998
(To Prospectus and Prospectus Supplement
Dated March 26, 1998)
Rule 424(b)(3)
Registration Statement
No. 333-41059
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 has designated $178,000,000 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 99.750% 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: October 9, 1998
Principal Amount: $178,000,000
Interest Rate Basis: Fed Funds Rate, as described below.
Spread: Plus 40 basis points (0.40%).
Interest Reset Dates: Daily as hereinafter provided.
Interest Payment Dates: The 9th day of the months of
January, April, July and
October, commencing January 9, 1999.
Stated Maturity: October 9, 2001
Reference Agent: The Chase Manhattan Bank
MERRILL LYNCH & CO.
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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 9th day of
January, April, July and October of each year, commencing January 9,
1999, 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 40 basis points (.40%). The Interest Rate for each
Interest Period will be reset on each Business Day, commencing with
October 9, 1998 (each such day an "Interest Reset Date"), to but
excluding the day on which the principal on the Notes 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, October 9, 1998 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.
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--EEF", 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 Markets Limited (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 the Notes, 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.
