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Ford Luxury Unit Widens Q1 Loss

Ford Luxury Unit Widens Q1 Loss

Irvine-based Premier Automotive Group widened its first quarter loss while its parent, Ford Motor Co., swung to a profit.

Premier last week reported a loss of $88 million before taxes in the first quarter, vs. a loss of $70 million before taxes in the year-ago period.

First quarter revenue rose 10% to $5.4 billion, vs. a year ago.

Premier is Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford’s luxury brand group. It consists of Land Rover North America, Jaguar Cars, Aston Martin and Volvo Cars of North America.

It was the first quarter that Ford broke out Premier’s earnings.

Premier’s pre-tax loss primarily reflected lower pricing and volume due to ramping up production of the new Jaguar XJ, which launches in June, according to Ford.

The luxury brands’ U.S. performance varied in March. For instance, Volvo outperformed its siblings and reported March sales of 12,225 vehicles, up 26% from last year. Jaguar sales were 3,601 autos, down 42% from a year ago. Land Rover’s sales were a slim 1.5% higher to 2,814.

Meanwhile, Ford beat estimates and reported a first quarter profit of $896 million, vs. a net loss of $1.1 billion in the year-ago period.

The company, which had undergone a massive overhaul, is showing signs of a turnaround.

Ford’s income before taxes was $1.3 billion during the first quarter, vs. a $27 million loss the same period last year.

Ford first quarter sales were 3.5% higher to $40.9 billion, vs. a year earlier.

The Premier group has undergone a number of changes.

Last year, Ford plucked Lincoln Mercury from Premier.

Half of Lincoln Mercury’s 89 Irvine workers have left or taken jobs with other Ford units in the area. The other workers are packing their bags for Michigan, as the unit readies its move back home this summer.

The Premier group now is led by regional director Dan Werbin, who swapped jobs with Victor Doolan. Doolan took Werbin’s spot as Volvo’s chief executive.

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