Car giants' happier new year

摘要

The world's biggest automotive powerhouses, often bearers of bad tidings in recent years, enjoyed a pain-free start to 2004. General Motors and Ford, first and second respectively, both unveiled a better-than-expected financial performance for the first quarter. GM made a slightly lower profit than at the same stage last year, $1.3bn (￡730m) compared with $1.5bn, but did better than had been forecast.