The only major American automaker to escape the government bailout from earlier this year, Ford Motor Company announced today that it will be upping its production numbers through the end of the year. Citing increased dales from the “Cash for Clunkers” rebate program (that was recently extended with an additional $2 billion in government funding), the company will be increasing production during the third quarter by 10,000 units t0 495,000, an 18 percent increase from over a year ago. Fourth quarters numbers are expected to rise even more dramatically, targeted at 570,000, the figure represents a 33 percent increase from the same time last year.

The move is twofold: meeting current consumer demand – primarily among its Focus and Escape models, two of the most popular purchases under the fuel-efficiency program – and refilling dealerships’ depleted stock so that sought after vehicles don’t disappear before the end of the year.

Ford isn’t the only the automaker attempting to leverage this overall market trend and renewed consumer spending – Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Chrysler have all boosted manufacturing at many of their US plants. But despite the emerging signals that the economy is being to rebound, this confidence in a return to business as usual seems to carry a lot of risk.

The data around the public’s recent car-buying habits have certainly been inflated by the “Cash for Clunkers” program and even with the recent injection of cash, most estimates see it only lasting through September, either through exhausting funds or overall market saturation. A fact that no one seems to dispute, which begs the question, what then?

And while no automaker wants to be caught without the inventory to meet demand, rushing headlong back into a “post-recession” mindset doesn’t seem like a prudent course of action. Sure, the lights are back on in factories and people are returning to their jobs as a result, but we want to make sure this a level that we can sustain, lest we forget the hard lessons of recent history.

[image via Van Pelt]