Carmakers see stability and uncertainty

By Kevin Krolicki and Michel Rose

DETROIT/PARIS (Reuters) - Ford, Renault, Peugeot, Toyota and BMW signaled on Monday that the automotive sector is stabilizing, but most stopped short of predicting a rebound next year.

Ford Motor Co (F.N) surprised Wall Street with a quarterly profit and raised its 2011 outlook to "solidly profitable" [ID:nN02411585]. The U.S. automaker said the third-quarter results were helped by cost cuts, improved credit results and increased North American market share.

Ford executives are optimistic about next year, but acknowledged the near-term uncertainty.

"We're just not sure mainly about the strength of the recovery, just like everybody else," Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said on a conference call.

At the Reuters Auto Summit in Paris, Renault SA (RENA.PA) and Peugeot SA (PEUP.PA) said they see a strong end to 2009 as drivers flock to take advantage of government incentives to trade in old cars. However, they agreed that questions remain about 2010 with sales slumping as much as 10 percent.

At the summit in Detroit, Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) U.S. brand chief, Bob Carter, said a gradual recovery for the industry was taking shape, with total U.S. industry sales seen rising 4.8 percent or more next year to more than 11 million.

"We believe the bottom of the cycle occurred in the first two weeks of April," he said. "In the month of September and closing out October, we see ourselves back on the slow and steady improvement track."

Jim O'Donnell, president of BMW North America, also said U.S. industry sales would be close to 11 million units next year, but that was down from the 11.5 million he had expected as recently as September.