"In the first year of our turnaround, Ford improved its operating results by about $1.7 billion," said chairman & CEO Bill Ford. "We are on track to reach our mid-decade target of an annual $7 billion pre-tax operating profit."
Dearborn, MI-based Ford noted that it plans to introduce a wide variety of new models this year -- including several new trucks. It plans to introduce an all-new F-150 pickup truck with five differentiated series, along with new minivans for the Ford and Mercury brands in North America and a new commercial truck package called the Ford Transit Connect.
Ford is estimating that industry demand will be about 16.5=million vehicles in the U.S. Its North American production plans call for producing 1,035,000 cars and trucks in the first quarter, up 25,000 units from production plans released earlier this month.