Ford has reported its best first-quarter profit in 13 years, driven by strong sales in its home market and demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Ford also said that last month's earthquake which has hurt the supply chain in Japan has had 'minimal' impact on its business.
Ford is the first US car maker to report results since the March earthquake in Japan jolted the global supply chain especially for Japanese makers.
While Japanese car makers Toyota and Honda have said they expect deep cuts in production this year, Ford said its business would not be greatly affected.
Ford's net profit rose to $2.55 billion, or 61 cents a share, compared with $2.09 billion, or 50 cents a share, a year earlier period.
Excluding once-off items, Ford earned 62 cents a share, easily topping the 50 cents expected by analysts. Revenue rose to $33.1 billion from $28.1 billion last year. Analysts had expected $29.7 billion.
Alan Mulally, who took over as chief executive in 2006, has turned the company around since it lost $30 billion from 2006 to 2008 by streamlining business operations including design, production and management of its balance sheet.
Analysts says Ford stands to gain US market share as it can take advantage of the recent re-design of its Fiesta and Focus models just as petrol prices spike and Japan's car makers, which have dominated the US small-car market for decades, expect thin inventories in May and June.
Meanwhile, Ford regained its footing in Europe in the first quarter, showing a pre-tax operating profit of $293m, up from a profit of $107m a year ago. Sales were up $1 billion to $8.7 billion in Europe. In the fourth quarter, Ford reported an operating loss of $51m in Europe, which was blamed for Ford's failure to meet analysts' expectations.
