The Mustang passed yet another landmark less than a week after its 44th anniversary on April 17 when production reached nine million units. The milestone Mustang, a GT Convertible, went to a dealership in Iowa for delivery to its lucky customer. As Ford's longest running nameplate, the Mustang had one of the best starts of any production car with over 22,000 sold on the first day and more than one million sold in the first two years. It's had its ups and down over the past 40+ years, but it's safe to say that the Mustang has enjoyed an upswing in popularity since its retro-restyle a few years back

 

I wonder if the MUSTANG had anything to due with this???



Bucking automotive trends, Ford Motor flew past Wall Street's expectations by announcing its first profitable quarter in nearly a year on Thursday, giving investors nascent hope that the carmaker's turnaround may come to fruition.

Although Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ) gave a very strong performance in Europe, investors should not discount the improvements made in North America. "It was a really good quarter," said Mark Warnsman, an analyst at Calyon Securities, "but its gains in Europe wouldn't have meant a lot if Europe was only offsetting bad news in North America. But they got North America back to a small loss."

Naysayers couldn’t simply write off Ford's gains in Europe on beneficial exchange rates. On the contrary, Ford's gains came despite a reported adverse exchange.

Ford attributed the $200 million adverse exchange in Europe to the weakening of the British pound against the euro. "Ford in Europe produces vehicles on the continent and sells them in the U.K. The weaking of the pound to the euro has an adverse profit move," Warnsman said.

There is very little overlap between Ford's product line in Europe, which favors driving dynamics over size, and North America.

Ford reported earnings of $100.0 million, or 5 cents per share, compared with a loss of $282.0 million, or 15 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales fell 8%, to $39.4 billion, which excludes the Jaguar Land Rover unit it is selling to Tata Motors (nyse: TTM - news - people ).

Ford reported a profit from continuing operations of $525.0 million, or 20 cents per share, excluding special items. Excluding one-time items, analysts on average expected Ford to report a loss of 16 cents per share. Analysts typically exclude one-time items when setting forecasts.

Unlike the rest if the automotive sector, Ford's credit segment was hit by a sagging economy, leading it to take $200 million in reserves.

All told, Warnsman was optimistic about Ford's future. "Ford should play first in line when looking for a recovery in the U.S. auto sector," the analyst said. The key for the company now is maintaining cash flow. Warnsman said the big risk for them was a weak balance sheet, leaving them little room to maneuver if they didn't have cash flow.

"You need cash to pay your people," Warnsman said, "profits are interesting, but in a turnaround situation, cash is fundamental.”

 

It's nice to hear good news from an American car company. I hope Ford does an good job with the 2010 Mustang.