Is Ford Motor Company (F) Getting on Track in Europe?

The company confirmed on Monday that Genk’s production lines have been restarted, and de Waard said that Ford will now “move quickly” to meet “strong demand”. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s February sales of each of the three models were roughly half of year-ago totals, so there’s some reason to expect that the agreement to restart production will incrementally improve Ford’s retail sales results in coming months.

Ford’s newfound labor peace came at a price: severance packages that could amount to as much as 2.5 years’ worth of pay for laid-off workers once the plant closes. But it seems like a relatively small price to pay, compared to the challenges that rival General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) has faced in negotiations with its European labor unions.

The upshot: ugly results, but small signs of a coming turnaround
There’s no getting around it: Auto sales in Europe generally, and Ford’s sales in particular, are going to be ugly for some time to come. Ford lost $1.75 billion in Europe last year, and expects to lose about that much again in 2013.

But if you look really closely, you can see small signs of progress. Strong order totals for the newest models bode well for Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s plans to continue to expand its European lineup. The Genk factory is now on track to close at the end of next year, with (hopefully) labor peace and continued steady production between now and then – and renewed production of the three vehicles produced at Genk should help Ford’s sales totals in coming months.

And yes, Ford’s share of the retail car markets in Europe’s biggest national markets did appear to tick up a bit in February.

The article Is Ford Getting on Track in Europe? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by John Rosevear.

Fool contributor John Rosevear owns shares of Ford and General Motors. Follow him on Twitter at @jrosevear. The Motley Fool recommends Ford and General Motors and owns shares of Ford.

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