With U.S. new car sales finally showing signs of bottoming out, Ford will follow through with its plan to increase production during the second half of the year. Ford announced earlier this year that it would boost third quarter production by 10 percent.
Although Ford is planning to bump production by about 10 percent, Ford CEO Alan Mulally says the Michigan automaker won’t revert to its old habit of producing cars just for the sake of keeping factories running. Ford “will continue to size production with demand. But clearly with our market share gain, we’re increasing production to support the desirability of Ford products,” Mulally told Automotive News.
Ford ’s U.S. market share has been up six of the last seven months, and shows no sign of slowing. Unlike Chrysler and General Motors, Ford was able to sidestep bankruptcy and government funding, which has improved its public perception.
If all goes as planned, Ford expects to return to profitability by 2011.
