A strong North American performance helped car giant Ford report an increase in quarterly earnings. Source: AAP
US auto giant Ford has reported a solid increase in quarterly earnings thanks to a strong performance in North America, which offset weakness in Europe.
The results propelled Ford to its 15th straight quarterly profit as a result of the drastic restructuring of its operations -- a process which has been paying dividends in the United States but has not yet been completed in Europe.
"We continue to expect 2013 to be another strong year, as we go further in strengthening our global product line-up and improving the competitiveness of our operations," said Ford chief executive Alan Mulally.
Ford's net earnings of $US1.6 billion ($A1.57 billion) were up 15.4 per cent from a profit of $US1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2012. Revenues came in at $US35.8 billion, up 10.5 per cent from the year-ago period of $US32.4 billion.
Ford's results included a 20 per cent increase in revenues from North America, a division for which the pre-tax profit came in at the highest level since the company began reflecting the unit as a separate business entity.
The automaker is investing heavily in the region as its market share continues to increase thanks in part to the popularity of smaller, European-style cars, such as the Fiesta and Focus.
But Ford continued to struggle with weakness in Europe where revenues sank 6.9 per cent and the division sustained a $US462 million loss for the quarter.
"In Europe we remain on track to meet the objectives we established, transforming our business to reach profitability by mid-decade," Mulally said in a conference call.
Much of the losses can be attributed to the cost of shuttering plants as Ford works to reduce capacity in the face of a deep decline in industry demand.
The region is expected to post a $US2 billion loss this year.
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