Ford first quarter net income of US$2.6bn (61 cents a share) on sales of $33.1bn beat the $2.12bn and $30.64bn consensus of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
The net profit was up $466m from first quarter 2010 while sales rose $5bn.
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Pre-tax operating profit was $2.8bn, or 62 cents per share, an increase of $827m. The automaker has now posted a pre-tax operating profit for seven consecutive quarters.
Automotive pre-tax operating profit was $2.1bn for the first quarter, up $936m.
Ford Credit reported a pre-tax operating profit of $713m, off $115m.
Positive automotive operating-related cash flow of $2.2bn in the first quarter was an improvement of $2.3bn year on year.
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By GlobalDataFord continued to reduce automotive debt with an additional $2.5bn of net debt reductions in the first quarter as a result of the redemption of all outstanding trust preferred securities.
“Our team delivered a great quarter, with solid growth and improvements in all regions,” said president and CEO Alan Mulally.
North America posted a first quarter pre-tax operating profit of $1.8bn, a $591m increase. Europe managed $293m, up $186m. South America and Asia Pacific Africa also posted increases.
“Our business is improving as we achieve growth in volume and revenue, while maintaining our focus on increasing competitiveness,” said CFO Lewis Booth.
Total automotive pre-tax operating profit in the first quarter rose $936m to $2.1bn. Total vehicle wholesales in the first quarter were 1.4m units, up 150,000.
Ford said it was on track to improve full year pre-tax operating profit and automotive operating-related cash flow compared to 2010.
“Based on lower expected profit at Ford Credit, increasing commodity costs, seasonal factors that tend to favour the first half of the year and higher investments and costs related to its longer-term growth and brand plans, quarterly results in the latter part of the year may not be as strong as the first quarter,” it cautioned.
It expects US full year industry volume in the range of 13m to 13.5m units and, for the 19 markets it tracks in Europe, in the range of 14.5m to 15.5m units, including medium and heavy trucks.
In the first quarter, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales was 13.4m in the US and 15.9m units in Europe.
“Despite encouraging first quarter industry levels, Ford is maintaining its present guidance for North America and Europe,” it said.
It expects total company second quarter production to be about 1.5m units, up 12,000 units from a year ago.
