Ford makes progress on financial plan

Alan Mulally, Ford President.

Ford's committed to a restructuring plan that enables more efficient and profitable operation, faster reaction to market pressures and quicker turn-around of new products. It's all in the name of improving the balance sheet and improving the value of the brand to its customers- not to mention more effectively leveraging existing global assets.

The initial results are in, and the automaker has just reported income of $100 million for the first quarter of 2008, or some $382 million more than the same period a year ago. Profit before tax from continuing operations increased by $669 million to $736 million, while cost reductions of $1.7 billion were calculated in North America. The Jaguar Land Rover division is not included in the calculations.

Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally comments "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."
photo:Ford