As talks between Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers continue, the automaker's top labor negotiator expressed confidence that Ford will not be left at a competitive disadvantage versus its cross-town rivals.

However, others familiar with the situation say those talks are being bogged down by one fact: Ford is doing a lot better than General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, making it hard for union leaders to sell their members on additional concessions.

Both GM and Chrysler won significant concessions from the union during their recent bankruptcy reorganizations.

On Wednesday, Ford global labor affairs chief Joe Hinrichs said most of those gains simply matched more favorable terms that Ford negotiated with the UAW in 2007.

But he acknowledged that the union had given more to its competitors in a few areas.

"In the near term, there's no cost disadvantage," he said. "Long term, there could be."

Hinrichs would not say what those areas were, but other sources say they include a freeze on entry-level wages, reduced job classifications for skilled trades and a no-strike agreement.

Ford also wants to match some of the cuts to retiree benefits that the UAW has agreed to at GM and Chrysler.

Union leaders have promised publicly that Ford would not be disadvantaged by the UAW's agreements with GM and Chrysler, but they are said to be concerned about their ability to sell members on further give-backs.

"People I've talked to feel like they've given up enough," said Gary Walkowicz, a member of the bargaining committee at Ford's Dearborn Truck Plant.

"They feel they shouldn't have to give up anymore."

He said that sentiment became stronger after Ford posted a surprise second-quarter profit of nearly $2.3 billion in July.

"Ford is clearly the most successful of the domestic automakers. The paradox of that success is that it makes it difficult to negotiate additional concessions," said labor expert Harley Shaiken of the University of California, Berkeley.

He said UAW leaders know that a profitable, competitive Ford is the best guarantor of their members' jobs.

"You have a strong commitment to that, but perhaps some disagreement about how to get there," he said.

"That's why they're still talking."

Shaiken suggested that concrete commitments by Ford to source new products in the United States would go a long way to helping union leaders sell any agreement to their constituents.