Ford Reports Record Third Quarter Profit of $2.2 Billion

While we’re here in Las Vegas for the SEMA show, where Ford is unveiling a bushel of new concepts of production models, the automaker is also celebrating record third quarter profits over $2 billion.

The announcement is the latest in a long line of success stories for Ford, which has seen thirteen consecutive quarters with a pre-tax profit.

Their recent success has been even more impressive. In the third quarter of last year, Ford earned a $200 million profit; in the third quarter this year, they’ve earned $2.2 billion. That’s the highest quarterly profit since the company began reflecting the North American region as a separate market in 2000.

Automotive pre-tax profits totaled $1.8 billion, up by about $436 million compared to the same quarter in 2011. Their total liquidity increased from the second quarter by $500 million, to a total of $34.4 billion. That cash flow allowed Ford to begin paying down low-cost loans for advanced technologies in September.

Ford is not immune to the recessed global economy, however, and have too suffered from the declining European market. Sales in the region have dropped by 20-percent in just the last five years, and are not expected to noticeably recover for a few more years. The company has promised to reveal a comprehensive plan to restore their Euro market to profitability again, so we’ll be on the lookout for that strategy in the near future.

Ford is certainly on a hot streak, and with some of the exciting concepts and ideas we’ve seen here at SEMA (bring the 1.0L three-cylinder engine to the U.S., please!), there’s no reason to think they won’t continue that success.

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