F Ford Motor Company

By Mike Colias 

General Motors Co. was the only Detroit car company to report a profit for the first quarter.

Ford Motor Co. last week posted a net loss of about $2 billion for the same January-March period, hurt by both the pandemic and restructuring costs. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV on Tuesday reported a loss of EUR1.7 billion ($1.84 billion) for the period.

GM said sales of its large pickup trucks -- the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra -- rose 27% during the quarter, even as overall U.S. sales slid 7%. GM's traditional truck strongholds, including parts of the South and Midwest, were less affected by stay-at-home orders, finance chief Dhivya Suryadevara said.

"Truck is our strong suit, and that is something we're going to capitalize on as we restart" the factories, Ms. Suryadevara said during a media briefing.

GM said it ended March with $33.4 billion in liquidity, which included about $16 billion from a credit line it drew in March. Analysts have said the company should have enough of a cash cushion to last through the third quarter even if production remains severely limited.

Detroit's auto makers are in better shape than they were heading into the global financial crisis in 2009, which left GM and Fiat Chrysler bankrupt and had Ford teetering. Still, their first-quarter financial results show how quickly cash can evaporate when production shuts off almost overnight, forcing them to conserve cash in part by delaying or scrapping high-profile model launches.

The companies have been racing to bolster their cash cushions since the Covid-19 outbreak idled their North American factories, starting around March 20. GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler collectively have added more than $45 billion in cash to their balance sheets, through issuing fresh debt or drawing on credit lines. Ford and GM both nixed their dividends, each saving at least $2 billion annually.

Still, company executives say they are tightening budgets and trying to trim costs where possible, expecting the second quarter will be even tougher than the first.

Ford last week cancelled plans to develop an all-electric Lincoln SUV with startup Rivian Automotive. It also postponed the reveal of its first new Bronco sport-utility vehicle since the mid-1990s and cited a potential delay in the first redesign in six years of its F-150 pickup truck, the company's biggest money maker.

GM has pushed back some vehicle programs, postponed plans to reveal an electric Hummer SUV and pulled the plug on its fledgling car-sharing unit, Maven. Ms. Suryadevara said investments in electric and autonomous vehicles would remain on track.

Fiat Chrysler said it has built in a three-month delay for many vehicle launches but hasn't cancelled any, the company said.

Write to Mike Colias at Mike.Colias@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 06, 2020 10:22 ET (14:22 GMT)

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