Ford Motor Co surprised Wall Street with a quarterly profit and raised its 2011 outlook to "solidly profitable". The U.S. automaker said the third-quarter results were helped by cost cuts, improved credit results and increased North American market share.
Ford executives are optimistic about next year, but acknowledged the near-term uncertainty. "We're just not sure mainly about the strength of the recovery, just like everybody else," Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said on a conference call.
At the Reuters Auto Summit in Paris, Renault SA and Peugeot SA said they see a strong end to 2009 as drivers flock to take advantage of government incentives to trade in old cars. However, they agreed that questions remain about 2010 with sales slumping as much as 10 percent.
