The highlight of Ford Motor Co.'s (F) first-quarter earnings was Ford Credit. Net income at the finance unit was up 18% compared with a year ago. That's better than the 5% year-over-year consolidated earnings gain reported by Ford, better than the 1% first-quarter earnings gain at General Motors Corp.'s (GM) GMAC finance unit, and ahead of Ford Credit's own internal growth target of 10%.

Analysts say that much of the credit goes to Chairman and Chief Executive Don Winkler, a self-described "out-of-the-box" thinker who has set aggressive growth goals for Ford Credit since taking over six months ago. Under his leadership, Ford Credit is restructuring around the globe and expanding its product lines to capture more business from its 10 million traditional auto finance and leasing customers.

"There's $60 billion of financial services spending that we don't get from our customers," he told Dow Jones Newswires in a recent interview.

Winkler, 52, also has brought his own management style to Ford. A newcomer to the auto industry, Winkler spent most of his career at Citicorp before becoming chairman and chief executive at Finance One, the finance unit of Bank One Corp. (ONE). But his unorthodox style has achieved results and made him one of the key players in Ford Chief Executive Jacques Nasser's efforts to eradicate the stovepipe-style thinking among brand and division managers.

Winkler's primary focus these days is on a broad restructuring in North America that will expand to Europe and Asia later this year. Under Winkler, Ford Credit has set up eight regional service centers to focus on administration and collection. That, Winkler says, has freed up Ford Credit's 141 North American branch offices to focus on sales and marketing.

"We realized we had to shift our focus to the consumer," he said. "We think there's lots of room for our business to grow around the world."

One way Winkler hopes to do that is by breaking out of the captive financing model that has dominated management thinking at Ford Credit for years. Repeating a theme that's common in consumer banking today, Winkler says Ford Credit wants to garner the biggest "wallet share" of a consumer's financial services spending, going well beyond just financing auto loans and leases.

For instance, Winkler is already working with the Hartford Group to offer some co-branded insurance products to Ford Credit customers. Winkler said other such co-branding partnerships are in the works.

He thinks co-branding works best because of Ford's own strong global brand recognition. "We commissioned a study and found out that Ford has 43% brand recognition among consumers worldwide," said Winkler. "That compares with about 1% for eBay."

'We Have To Open Our Minds Without Losing Them'

Winkler is looking to exploit that solid brand image online, as well. Since taking over, he has cut Ford Credit's e-commerce initiatives to one central focus - generating loans and leases online - from about 50 diverse and sometimes sporadic projects. Since consolidating online projects, Ford Credit has seen online bookings rise to about $17 million a month, mostly in the form of loans and leases. That compares with total loan originations of about $80 billion a year.

"It's a start," Winkler says.

More broadly, Winkler has reduced the number of global projects at Ford Credit to 80 from about 1,800. These initiatives are already starting to impact Ford Credit's bottom line.

In the first quarter, Ford Credit earned $353 million, up 18% from $300 million in the year ago quarter. GM's GMAC finance unit earned $397 million during the quarter, but only posted a modest 1% gain from earnings of $392 million a year ago.

Ford Credit's total net finance receivables for the first quarter were $149.9 billion at the end of the first quarter, up from $131.8 billion a year ago. Winkler says the improved earnings are the result of higher volume and improved net financing margins, offset partially by costs associated with the restructuring of North American operations.

After-tax return on average equity improved to 12.7% from 11.3% a year ago and Ford Credit's expense to revenue ratio is 29%, the best in the auto finance business.

In March, Ford Credit financed 369,961 automotive contracts, the largest volume in Ford Credit's history and a 15% gain from 316,124 contracts a year ago.

While the financial achievements are impressive, Winkler's greatest contribution over at Ford may be his unorthodox management style. He agrees with CEO Nasser that managers from different divisions have to talk with one another to cut costs and realize synergies. But he also openly encourages failure.

"To succeed, we have to open our minds without losing them," he says. "We have to question every boundary and principle by which we define our business." Another favorite saying is: "You can't innovate unless you're willing to make some mistakes."

These aren't just platitudes to motivate Ford Credit's 18,000 employees. Winkler is so committed to his management philosophy that he has his own Web site, Cyberwink.com, where he outlines his Breakthrough Leadership Process and his 10 Principles of Leadership.

Winkler has always used unorthodox methods to encourage innovative thinking and meet expectations. For instance, when a new tax law threatened a bank run in Italy, Citibank branch manager Winkler emptied the vault and put all the cash in front of tellers. Winkler says the sight of all that cash instilled confidence in nervous customers and actually increased deposits.

Unorthodox or not, the first-quarter numbers show that Winkler is achieving results at Ford Credit. As to the future, he thinks his 10% earnings growth targets may be "modest."