Ford Motor Credit Co. on April 15 reported net income of $442 million in Q1 2003, up $186 million from earnings of $256 million in the same period a year ago.

The increase primarily reflected a lower provision for credit losses and the net favourable impact of receivables sales, offset partially by the unfavourable impact of a lower level of managed receivables.

On a pre-tax basis, Ford Credit earned $727 million in Q1 2003, compared with $396 million in Q1 2002.

The parent company, Ford Motor Co., reported net income of $896 million, or 45 cents a share, for the first quarter of 2003, up 181 percent on Q1 2002’s net loss of $1.1 billion, or 61 cents a share.

Ford's financial results reported separate figures for the Premier Automotive Group (PAG) for the first time and showed a before tax loss of $88 million compared with a $70 million loss a year ago.

Ford Motor income before taxes was $1.3 billion during Q1 2003, compared with a $27 million loss in Q1 2002.

Q1 revenue was $40.9 billion, up slightly from $39.5 billion during last year's Q1. Worldwide vehicle unit sales in the 2003 Q1 were 1,726,000, up 3% from 1,675,000 a year ago.

"Our Q1 performance demonstrates that the acceleration of our cost-cutting actions and the management team's focus on improving our core business are making a difference," said chairman and CEO Bill Ford.

"Our overall financial results continue to improve, our Q1 U.S. market share is up from last year, and we are gaining momentum on most other fronts.”

During Q1, Ford's corporate US market share was 21.2 percent, up slightly from Q1 2002’s 20.7 percent.