Ford and Chrysler report new losses in 1st quarter

Ford Motor Company and Chrysler Corporation reported losses of hundreds of millions of dollars in the 1981 first quarter, but predicted substantial earnings improvements for the second quarter. Ford, the second-largest US automaker, reported the industry's biggest loss for the latest quarter: $439 million on $9.3 billion in sales. Chrysler said it lost $298 million on $2.4 billion in revenues.

Earlier, General Motors, the industry leader, reported a marginal profit of $ 190 million on sales of $15.72 billion.