Ford 'encouraged' as U.S. April sales rise from year earlier

Ford Motor Co. is "encouraged" by April U.S. sales running ahead of a year earlier and experienced a boost in revenue in the first quarter, the automaker's Americas chief said.

"Revenues were up" as well as this month's deliveries, Americas President Mark Fields said today in Detroit without elaborating. Ford also said quality gains helped slash warranty repair rates by more than 40 percent over the past three years.

Paring that expense "will be yet another tailwind for first-quarter earnings," said Brian Johnson, a Barclays Capital analyst in Chicago who has an "equal weight" rating on the shares. "We're expecting a strong first quarter from Ford. Production was up and cost cutting continued."

Field's comments added to evidence of a rebound in the U.S. auto market after sales slumped to a 27-year low in 2009. Industry deliveries rose 24 percent in March, according to researcher Autodata Corp., and marked a fifth consecutive monthly advance.

"We're starting to see the economic metrics start to go in the right direction," Fields said at an auto-industry breakfast sponsored by the Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler law firm. "I'm cautiously optimistic on consumer confidence."

Ford's U.S. deliveries totaled 133,979 in April 2009, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata. Ford may report first-quarter revenue of $28 billion, based on the average of 7 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg, compared with $24.8 billion a year earlier.