Members of Ford Motor Co.’s founding family are discussing the sale of part of their controlling stake in the money-losing automaker, three people with direct knowledge of the talks said.

Chairman Bill Ford briefed directors on family members’s views before the annual shareholders meeting last week in Wilmington, Del., one of the people said. At a gathering last month, some family members urged that investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners be hired to advise on a share sale or alternative strategies, the person said.

Ford, the second-largest American automaker, lost a record $12.6 billion last year, and the shares have plunged 74% since 1999. The family owns 71 million Class B shares, extending the power it has held since Henry Ford founded the company in 1903.

“The younger Fords don’t believe the family should be so involved in managing the company since it leads to bad decisions,” a business professor emeritus at Michigan State University, Eugene Jennings, said. “The older Fords are saying, ‘You’ve been well taken care of with money tied up in trust funds, so what are you complaining about?'”

David Hempstead, an attorney for the Ford family, didn’t return an earlier call seeking comment. Yesterday, he said in a statement that the family “is not discussing the sale of its holdings in Ford Motor Co. Statements attributable to unnamed sources are untrue.”

The value of the shares has plummeted to $584 million from $2.3 billion since Bill Ford, greatgrandson of the founder, became chairman eight years ago. The automaker eliminated dividends in September, wiping out about $85 million in annual income the family received as recently as 2001, when the shares paid a 30-cent dividend.

“As they cross generations, the Fords have to face the question of whether they can maintain ownership, and whether it’s worth it,” retired Ford vice chairman, Peter Pestillo, said.

Disagreements among family members surfaced in July 2006, when they considered whether Bill Ford should continue as chief executive officer, one of the people said. In September, the company hired Alan Mulally, head of Boeing Co.’s commercial-jet business, to succeed Bill Ford as chief executive.

Ford is in its 12th straight year of decline in American market share. Much of Ford’s record 2006 loss included expenses to close plants and shed 40,000 jobs in North America.

If the Fords step back, Mr. Mulally may have a freer hand in reviving the company, a manager of $140 million in the Gutzwiller One fund, including 300,000 Ford shares, in Basel, Switzerland, Yvan de la Fressange, said.

“It could be a positive for the company for the family to have less control,” he said. “The Ford family is quite large and has split opinions. Some are panicking and saying ‘it’s over,’ and some have confidence.”