Ford suffers 38% drop in profit as US car sales decline
Net income dropped to $1.21 billion (0.9bn), from $1.95 billion, in the year-ago quarter, the company said in a statement.
Ford said it would break even at best in the second quarter and cut an additional 35,000 vehicles from its planned North American production for the period. The drop in first-quarter profit and the prospect for a second-quarter loss threaten chief executive William Clay Ford Jnr’s three-year streak of improved financial performance. The company said its car operations may not earn a profit this year, leaving it to rely on car loans to sustain profits. Ford Motor, of Dearborn, Michigan, earned $3.49bn last year.
