LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ford Motor Co.'s recent financial results affirm its turnaround is on track, and the automaker hopes to continue that growth by investing further in emerging markets such as China, chairman and chief executive Bill Ford said Thursday.
Ford discussed the automaker's progress and outlook at its 49th annual meeting. Roughly 170 shareholders attended the subdued gathering in a state where the company employs 10,000 and began producing vehicles 91 years ago.
Bill Ford was mostly upbeat in his remarks, citing the automaker's $1.9 billion first-quarter profit as evidence the restructuring plan started a little more than two years ago was working.
The January-March period marked the first time since 2000 that the company's automotive operations earned more than its financial arm. Ford's profit beat the $1.3 billion that larger rival General Motors Corp. earned in the quarter.
"Overall, we're very pleased with our progress so far, but we know our job is far from over," Bill Ford said. "As you know, this industry remains fiercely competitive worldwide."
He said the automaker expects soon to accelerate its expansion in China, where some analysts have criticized the company for lagging behind competitors.
The automaker said in October, in conjunction with a Chinese tour by Bill Ford, that it planned a $1.5 billion expansion of its China operations to boost car production capacity to 150,000 a year from 20,000.
That plan would entail expanding a factory in the western city of Chongqing as well as building a second car plant and a new engine plant, Ford said at the time.
The second biggest U.S. automaker was a relatively late arrival in China, beginning auto production in 1997, and is trying to catch up with U.S., German and Japanese rivals.
"We have plans in place to be much more aggressive in driving that growth, including expansions of our manufacturing capacity that will benefit us throughout the region," Bill Ford said without offering specifics.
Ford Motor executives typically meet with reporters after annual meetings, but the company canceled a question-and-answer session for what it said were scheduling issues.
Shareholders re-elected the board of directors and sided with management by voting down five-of-five shareholder-presented proposals.