Loss smaller, but Ford is struggling

Ford says its smaller loss reflects its cost-cutting andnew products.
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- At 282 million, Ford Motor Co.'s first-quarter loss was much improved over the 1.4 billion in red ink it posted during the same quarter last year.
Company officials touted the results as a sign that its restructuring plans were taking hold, but Ford still is struggling to make money on its core business -- selling cars and trucks in North America.
The first-quarter loss, announced Thursday, was Ford's seventh consecutive negative quarter, but the automaker said the smaller deficit reflected its efforts aimed at cutting costs and rolling out new products to compete with Asian automakers.
Ford's revenue rose 5 percent, its loss excluding special items was smaller than Wall Street expected, and its shares rose more than 4 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.
CEO Alan Mulally said in a conference call with reporters and industry analysts that Ford was making progress.
"Although these first-quarter results are encouraging, we still have a long way to go to turn around this business," he said. "The basics of our business are improving," he said.
Sales drop
Ford's new vehicle sales in the United States fell more than 13 percent for the quarter and its market share dropped from 17.2 percent in the first quarter of 2006 to 15.1 percent.
The Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossover vehicles were performing well, but sales fell in the company's flagship F-Series pickup truck line and its Explorer sport-utility vehicle. Both had been huge profit centers for the company in the past.
The overall loss of 15 cents per share for the January-March period compared with 76 cents per share in the same period a year ago.
Revenue rose to 43 billion from 40.8 billion a year ago.
Several industry analysts reacted to Ford's improvement with caution, saying that the company still faces significant challenges for the remainder of the year.
"Nothing there has really changed our feelings that 2007 will be a year of tremendous cash losses," said Gregg Lemos-Stein, a credit analyst for Standard & amp; Poor's in New York.