Ford’s first quarter 2014 pre-tax profit fell US$765m year on year to $1.4bn while net income of $989m was down $622m including pre-tax special charges of $122m, mostly for restructuring in Europe.
Vehicle unit sales were 1.59m versus 1.5m and revenue rose $0.3bn to $35.9bn.
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The company maintained its full year pre tax profit forecast of $7bn.
Ford said increased recall and warranty costs in North America and adverse currency exchange rates in Venezuela reduced Q1 pre-tax profit by about $900m.
“While similar factors could occur in the future, it is unusual for items like these to occur in this magnitude in the same quarter,” the automaker said.
The Asia Pacific region saw a record quarterly profit, North America and Middle East & Africa were profitable, Europe losses fell by more than half and South America incurred larger losses compared with a year ago. Ford Credit once again “delivered solid results”.
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By GlobalDataFirst quarter wholesale volume was up 6% and revenue improved about 1% year on year. The company continued market share gains in Asia Pacific, including record market share in China.
“We had a solid quarter, and we are on track with our most aggressive product launch schedule in our history,” said Alan Mulally, president and CEO.
North America pre-tax profit fell $892m to $1.5bn with Ford highlighting $500m in warranty and weather-related costs.
Wholesale volume and revenue declined 2% and 5%.
South America reported a pre-tax loss of $510m, up $292m on Q1 2013’s loss due to currency effects, higher costs due to high local inflation and lower volume due to a weaker industry.
Wholesale volume and revenue decreased by 8% and 18%.
Ford now expects South America to incur a larger loss than in 2013 ranging from break even to a small loss.
The pre-tax loss in Europe reduced $231m to $194m thanks to lower costs and favorable exchange.
Wholesale volume and revenue improved 11% and 18%, respectively as industry volumes rose.
Ford continues to expect the region to be profitable in 2015.
Middle East & Africa reported a profit of $54m for the first quarter, up $7m year on year.
But wholesale volume and revenue declined from a year ago as dealers altered stock policy and there were also adverse currency effects.
Asia Pacific improved $291m to $319m pretax profit, setting a record.
Wholesale volume was up 32% and net revenue grew 19%.
Wholesale volume in China increased 45%.
In the first quarter, total company production rose 46,000 units to 1.6m, 3,000 more than forecast.
Second quarter production is forecast up 32,000 to 1.7m due to Asia Pacific demand.
Ford Credit’s first quarter pre-tax profit of $499m was largely flat.
