April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the U.S. automaker that lost $15.3 billion the last two years, probably will post its third straight quarterly deficit tomorrow after sales of pickup trucks continued to fall.

The report may highlight the mounting pressure on Ford to speed the introduction of fuel-efficient models as record-high gasoline prices sap demand for pickups and other light trucks that account for two-thirds of its sales.

``We've said it for a couple of quarters -- it's about making progress on the turnaround,'' said Dan Poole, senior vice president of equity research at National City Corp. in Cleveland, which owns 1.9 million Ford shares. ``I want a reason to get excited about the stock,'' he said, referring to new models.

Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally may report a first-quarter loss of 15 cents a share, excluding costs the company considers one-time items, according to the average of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Ford lost $282 million, or 15 cents a share, in 2007's first quarter.

The results will ``reflect the challenging environment Ford is facing,'' Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson in New York wrote in a report yesterday. ``Consumers are shifting away from full-size pickup trucks in light of high gas prices and the weak U.S. housing environment.''

The Dearborn, Michigan-based company is scheduled to release figures before the start of New York Stock Exchange trading. Spokesman Mark Truby declined to comment.

Sliding Sales

Ford's vehicle sales in the U.S., its largest market, declined 9 percent in 2008's first three months, including a 14 percent tumble for the F-Series pickup truck. Sales of Ford's largest pickups have dropped for 17 straight months. Industrywide demand fell 8 percent to the lowest annual rate since 1997.

Ford last boosted its stake in its home market in 1995, when it claimed about 25 percent of sales. Last year it had about one in every six, while yielding to Toyota Motor Corp. its title as No. 2 in U.S. sales after General Motors Corp. This year, Ford has lost sales and share while inching ahead of Toyota, which has posted sales declines in seven of the past nine months.

Ford shares dropped 15 percent in the quarter, and reached a 22-year low of $5.11 on March 17. The stock has since recovered, rising 12 percent for the year. The automaker fell 13 cents to $7.52 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Heading for Showrooms

Most of the vehicles developed under Mulally, hired almost 20 months ago from Boeing Co., haven't yet made it to showrooms. That's about to change, Jim Farley, Ford's group vice president for marketing, said last month in New York.

``From the summer of 2008 through the summer of 2009, Ford will be doing something it hasn't done a lot of lately and that's launching new products,'' said Farley, whom Mulally lured from Toyota late last year.

Scheduled for sale later this year are the seven-passenger Flex wagon and Lincoln MKS sedan. Ford also is developing a new version of its Taurus sedan.

Ford will introduce a new or redesigned vehicle every month or two, Farley said, compared with one every six months in recent years.

Investors are watching for signs that Ford is making progress on its goal of regaining profitability in 2009 while battling this year's U.S. sales decline, said Mirko Mikelic, portfolio manager at Fifth Third Asset Management in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which holds Ford bonds.

Buyouts

The automaker only got about half of the union buyouts it wanted, or about 4,000, in the most recent drive to reduce the factory workforce, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing a person familiar with the issue. The automaker will likely offer another round of buyouts and then may resort to layoffs, the newspaper said.

Mulally is also looking at selling its Volvo brand, the Journal reported. The automaker last month agreed to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands to India's Tata Motors Ltd.

Ford's North American unit accounted for most of its $2.7 billion loss last year. The company made money in all other regions.

``We continue to have doubts over its ability to turn a domestic profit in 2009,'' Citigroup Global Markets analyst Itay Michaeli in New York wrote in an April 14 report.

The company has cut 46,300 jobs in North America over the past two years and negotiated a new labor contract to reduce expenses in the U.S.

Health-Care Trust

Most of the cost savings from the deal with the United Auto Workers haven't kicked in. Under the accord, Ford will transfer its retiree health-care obligations to a union-run trust starting in 2010.

The cost to protect Ford bonds from default rose in the quarter, indicating a decline in the perception of the company's credit quality. Credit-default swaps on Ford debt climbed 449 basis points to 1,236 basis points on March 31, according to CMA Datavision in New York. The swaps rose less than 1 basis point to 923 today.

Ford's 7.45 percent note due July 2031 fell during the quarter to 66.125 cents on the dollar from 73.75 cents at the start of the period, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Agency. The yield rose to 11.7 percent. The bond traded at 74 cents on the dollar with a yield of 10.445 percent today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Koenig in Southfield, Michigan at wkoenig@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: April 23, 2008 16:55 EDT