Exhibit 20
NEWS
Contact:
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Media:
David Reuter
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Shareholder Inquiries:
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IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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FORD REPORTS BETTER THAN EXPECTED FIRST QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS
o First quarter loss of 6 cents per share, excluding unusual items,
beats consensus estimate of a loss of 15 cents per share.
o European automotive operations earn $117 million.
o Automotive gross cash at $21.5 billion.
o Revitalization Plan on track to meet or surpass 2002 earnings
milestone.
DEARBORN, Mich., April 17 - Ford Motor Company [NYSE: F] today reported a net
loss of $800 million, or 45 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2002.
Excluding unusual items related to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards
(SFAS) Nos. 142 and 133, Ford lost $108 million, or 6 cents per share. Ford
earned $1.13 billion, or 60 cents a share, before unusual items in the first
quarter of 2001.
Ford's first quarter revenues were $39.86 billion, a 6 percent decline from last
year's first quarter. Worldwide vehicle unit sales in the 2002 first quarter
were 1,678,000, down 7 percent from a year ago.
"Our first quarter performance shows that our Revitalization Plan efforts are
taking hold and we are heading in the right direction," said Bill Ford, chairman
and CEO. "While there is still a great deal of uncertainty in our industry, the
general economic climate is improving and we are on schedule to meet or surpass
our 2002 earnings milestone."
-2-
In the first quarter, Ford began the launch of several all-new or significantly
freshened products across its brand portfolio, including the Ford Expedition
and European Ford Fiesta, Lincoln Navigator and Lincoln Town Car,
Mercury Grand Marquis, Jaguar S-Type R and Land Rover Range Rover. In addition,
the company announced the return of the GT40 high-performance sports car,
introduced key middle segment vehicles such as the Ford CrossTrainer and
Ford Five Hundred and publicly debuted the Lincoln Aviator, Volvo XC90,
Mercury Marauder and European Ford Fusion.
Ford also benefited in the first quarter from strong sales of key new product
introductions from Premier Automotive Group's Jaguar and Land Rover brands. The
recently introduced Jaguar X-Type and Land Rover Freelander combined to make
those brands No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in year-to-date U.S. sales increases
over the previous year.
First quarter 2002 results include a $708 million non-cash after-tax charge for
the transition to a new accounting standard for goodwill (SFAS No. 142), which
related to various investments in the automotive sector, and a $16 million
non-cash after-tax benefit relating to the accounting standard for derivative
instruments and hedging activities (SFAS No. 133).
The following discussion of our results excludes these unusual items, as well as
any unusual items in our first quarter 2001 results:
AUTOMOTIVE OPERATIONS
Worldwide automotive operations lost $310 million in the first quarter, compared
to a profit of $748 million year ago. Worldwide automotive revenues were $32.32
billion, compared with $34.65 billion a year ago.
Automotive gross cash at March 31 totaled $21.5 billion, including $2 billion
previously funded employee benefit expenses through a Voluntary Employee
Beneficiary Association trust.
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North America: The first quarter loss in North America was $430 million.
Earnings in the 2001 first quarter were $754 million. The decline was a result
of significantly higher marketing costs and lower production.
Europe: Ford earned $117 million in the first quarter in Europe, compared with
earnings of $88 million a year ago. The increase is largely explained by the
elimination of goodwill amortization due to SFAS No. 142. Continued cost
reductions and other improvements offset lower sales due to declining industry
and production ramp-up for the new Ford Fiesta.
South America: Ford operations in South America lost $51 million, compared with
a loss of $53 million a year ago. Results from the region continue to be
affected by currency devaluations and weak economic conditions in Brazil and
Argentina.
Rest-of-World: Operations from the rest of the world earned a profit of $54
million, compared with a loss of $41 million in the 2001 first quarter. The
improvement was primarily due to smaller losses at Mazda.
FORD CREDIT
Ford Credit earned $242 million in the first quarter, down from $406 million a
year ago. Results were lower primarily due to the unfavorable impact of
securitizations and higher actual credit losses, offset partially by improved
financing margins and higher levels of managed receivables. Increased
securitizations over the past 12 months resulted in lower owned receivables and
related revenue, offset partially by higher income on retained interests, excess
spread and servicing fees. Higher actual credit losses reflected weaker economic
conditions compared with a year ago.
HERTZ
Hertz reported a first quarter loss of $48 million, compared with a loss of $4
million in the first quarter a year ago. The loss was mainly attributable to
lower rental volume in the U.S. resulting from a decline in travel.
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OUTLOOK
"The U.S. economy is beginning to show signs of a recovery," said Nick Scheele,
Ford president and chief operating officer. "As consumer confidence increases,
we are well positioned with the many new products we are in the process of
bringing to market."
Investors can hear a review of first quarter results by Martin Inglis, group
vice president and chief financial officer, on the Internet at
http://www.streetevents.com or http://www.shareholder.ford.com. The presentation
will start at 9 a.m. EDT, April 17.
Ford Motor Company is the world's second largest automaker, selling vehicles in
200 markets and with approximately 350,000 employees on six continents. Its
automotive brands include Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln,
Mercury and Volvo. Its automotive-related services include Ford Credit, Hertz
and Quality Care.
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Statements included herein may constitute "forward looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated, including,
without limitation: greater price competition in the U.S. and Europe resulting
from currency fluctuations, industry overcapacity or other factors; a
significant decline in industry sales, particularly in the U.S. or Europe,
resulting from slowing economic growth or other factors; lower-than-anticipated
market acceptance of new or existing products; currency or commodity price
fluctuations; economic difficulties in South America or Asia; the availability
of fuel or higher fuel prices; a market shift from truck sales in the U.S.;
lower-than-anticipated residual values for leased vehicles; a credit rating
downgrade; labor or other constraints on our ability to restructure our
business; increased safety, emissions, fuel economy or other regulation
resulting in higher costs and/or sales restrictions; work stoppages at key Ford
or supplier facilities or other interruptions of supplies; and the discovery of
defects in vehicles resulting in delays in new model launches, recall campaigns,
increased warranty costs or litigation, insufficient credit loss reserves; and
our inability to implement the Revitalization Plan.