Ford posts $100 million in first quarter profit

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Ford posts $100 million in first quarter profit

By PHILIP NUSSEL, AUTOMOTIVE NEWS

Ford Motor Co. said on Thursday that it posted net income of $100 million on total revenue of $43.5 billion during the first quarter.

That's compared with a net loss of $282 million on revenue of $43.0 billion during the same period a year ago.

In North America, the company said it posted a pre-tax loss of $45 million compared with a loss of $613 million a year ago.

"The improvement reflected cost reductions of $1.2 billion, including lower structural and product costs," Ford said in a statement. "These improvements were partly offset by unfavorable volume and mix, and net pricing. First quarter revenue was $17.1 billion, down from $18.5 billion a year ago."

In Europe, Ford said it posted a pre-tax gain of $739 million on revenue of $10.2 billion. That's up from pre-tax gains of $219 million on revenue of $8.6 billion during the same period last year. The results do not include Jaguar and Land Rover, which Ford has agreed to sell to India's Tata Motors Ltd.

"The results of this quarter are encouraging, particularly our outstanding performance in Europe and South America," Ford CEO Alan Mulally said in the company statement.

"In the past several years, we have substantially restructured these businesses. We believe this is an indication that our efforts to leverage Ford's global assets across the world will bear fruit. Going forward, we remain committed to our key business objectives, including our goal of reaching North America and overall Automotive profitability in 2009 despite the challenging economic conditions."