In an exciting report, Ford announced that in the first quarter, it earned 2.1 billion in profit.  Recall that only Ford was able to stay out of bankruptcy by selling (at a loss) its European car line (including Jaguar and Range Rover) and thus bulking up its cash position.  It also entered into a huge amount of secured debt.  But by whatever means, Ford had enough cash to avoid bankruptcy and not need the government’s bail out money (unlike Chrysler and GM).  Its excellent line up of cars and shrunken overhead are now is allowing it to earn nice profits.  Good for Ford.  “Ford’s U.S. sales climbed 37 percent for the quarter and its market share rose nearly three percentage points. The company made $1.2 billion in North America, which had been draining cash in prior years.

It also reported an 84 percent sales increase in China….Ford has gradually cut costs and improved sales since the depths of the recession a year ago. Ford made $2.7 billion last year. But the company remains saddled with significant debt. Ford said its debt increased by $700 million to $34.3 billion in the quarter.

Booth said the company will continue to work on lowering its debt load. Ford paid off $3 billion in debt at the beginning of this month.”

Here is a link to the article from which the quote was taken: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100427/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_ford

Michael