The results announced by Ford exceed the analysts’ expectations and the net profit contrasts strongly with the loss of $1.43 billion recorded in the first quarter of last year.
Ford’s first quarter revenue was $28.1bn, up $3.7bn from the same period a year ago. The largest part of the profit was made by Ford North America, which reported a pre-tax operating profit of $1.2 billion, an improvement of $1.9 billion as compared to Q1 2009. Ford Europe managed to earn a pre-tax operating profit of $107 million, up $692 million from a year ago.
“The Ford team around the world achieved another very solid quarter, and we are delivering profitable growth. Our plan is working, and the basic engine that drives our business results – products, market share, revenue and cost structure – is performing stronger each quarter, even as the economy and vehicle demand remain relatively soft,” Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally was quoted as saying by just-auto.com
Ford pointed to the particularly higher US market share fueled by strong sales of Fusion, F-150, Taurus and Focus. The company said that the strong response to its new vehicles made possible the largest quarterly US market share gain since 1977.
“We are seeing the benefits of our One Ford plan around the world. All of our business operations – North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific Africa and Ford Credit – were not only profitable, but also showed substantially improved results over a year ago,” said Lewis Booth, Ford executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Google News