Ford ‘Encouraged’ as U.S. April Sales Top 2009 Level (Update2)
By Keith Naughton
April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. is “encouraged” by April U.S. sales running ahead of a year earlier and experienced a boost in revenue in the first quarter, the automaker’s Americas chief said.
“We’re starting to see the economic metrics start to go in the right direction,” Americas President Mark Fields said today at an auto-industry breakfast in Detroit. “I’m cautiously optimistic on consumer confidence.”
Fields didn’t give specifics on sales performance at the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker. Ford’s U.S. deliveries totaled 133,979 in April 2009, according to industry researcher Autodata Corp.
His comments added to evidence of a rebound in the U.S. auto market after sales slumped to a 27-year low in 2009. Industrywide deliveries rose 24 percent in March, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata, and marked a fifth consecutive monthly advance.
“The big question is not so much do we have a recovery, but to what extent and how long will it take?” Fields said. “Revenues were up” for the quarter, he said without elaborating. Ford may report sales of $28 billion, based on the average of 7 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg, compared with $24.8 billion a year earlier.
Analysts’ Estimates
Net income for the quarter probably will be $978.8 million, the average of 5 estimates. Ford posted a net loss of $1.43 billion for the first three months of 2009. The company hasn’t said when it will release first-quarter results.
Ford, the only major U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy last year, finished the quarter with 17.4 percent of the domestic market, according to Autodata. The increase of 2.7 percentage points was Ford’s largest quarterly gain since the last three months of 1977, Fields said.
“That’s back when ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ were in movie theaters,” Fields said. “It’s been a long time.”
Ford fell 1 cent to $12.76 at 11:21 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have gained 27 percent this year.
Ford will remain competitive in offering incentives, while still spending less than last year, Fields said.
“We don’t go to the point where incentives really start damaging the brand and really start hurting” resale values for customers, Fields said.
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