Ford Motor's restructuring is going well, and the company will decide on the sale of its Aston Martin sports car unit this year, chief executive Alan Mulally said last night.
Mr Mulally, who took over at Ford in September with a mandate to turn the struggling company around, said: "The most important thing is to match the (production) capacity to the current demand, restructure to operate profitably."
Ford's third turnaround plan in five years calls for the company to cut its work force by a third and close more than a dozen plants. It has also raised about $25 billion in cash through liens, bond offerings and credit lines.
"We clearly are at a turning point," said Mr Mulally. "I feel more confident now than when I arrived that we can make a viable Ford."
Asked about his meeting in Tokyo last month with Toyota Motor's chairman Fujio Cho, Mr Mulally said they discussed advanced technology and the regulatory environment among other things.