Ford - "2004 the year of the car"

Ford Motors said that today that 2004 will be the "year of the car," and should be the most profitable year since heir Bill Ford Jr. took over in 2001.

Ford said today that its pretax profit will be between $3.5 bn (€2.72 bn) and $3.8 bn (€2.95 bn) in 2004, with about a quarter of that coming from improving auto operations.

Assessing the current year, the world's second largest car maker expects a US industry sales volume of 17 million cars and expects prices to fall in 2004.

Ford is listed on the New York Stock exchange and saw its share price rise 68% in 2003.