Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the only U.S. automaker shunning federal loans, may seek to exchange its unsecured debt with bondholders “in the coming months” as it burns through cash in the longest U.S. recession since the 1980s.

There is “little chance” that Ford, which depleted $21.2 billion of cash in 2008, will pay unsecured debt holders back at par, Kip Penniman Jr., an analyst at Montpelier, Vermont-based KDP Investment Advisors Inc., wrote in a report today.

Ford, the second-biggest automaker, on Jan. 29 reported a worse-than-expected $5.9 billion fourth-quarter loss, capping what was the worst annual performance in its 105-year history. The company said it would tap a $10.1 billion credit line to increase cash reserves.

The terms of a debt exchange may prove worthwhile for investors given that Ford is the “least likely of the Detroit Three to face a bankruptcy filing given the company’s liquidity profile,” Penniman wrote.

While the first quarter may mark the “trough” of Ford’s losses, the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker may produce negative earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization until the fourth quarter of 2009, the analysts wrote.