US car maker Ford has reported a smaller than expected loss for the first quarter of this year.
It also said it was on track to at least break even in 2011 and did not expect to seek US government loans.
The car maker also said it had burned through $3.7 billion of cash in the first quarter, a sharp drop from the second half of last year, and ended March with $21.3 billion in gross cash.
Ford posted a net loss of $1.43 billion, or 60 cents per share, for the first quarter, compared with net profits of $70m a year earlier. It record a loss of $1.8 billion, or 75 cents per share, from continuing businesses and excluding once-off items.
Chief executive Alan Mulally said the results reflected the extremely difficult business environment and weak demand for cars around the world. But finance chief Lewis Booth called the results encouraging and said Ford expected the first quarter to have the worst cash burn of the year.
Ford has not sought US government aid, setting it apart from GM and Chrysler, which are operating on $17.4 billion of federal loans and have sought more to stave off bankruptcy.
Ford posted a 2008 net loss of $14.7 billion, a company record, and has reported losses of about $30 billion over the past three years.
