Mulally said he agreed with the assessment of “the economic advisers of the Bush administration and the Obama administration that if GM and Chrysler had gone into free fall, they could have taken the United States from a recession into a depression.”

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Ford Motor Co., saddled with high costs, falling sales and financial losses, will close Australian car and engine assembly plants in October 2016 after almost nine decades of manufacturing in the country.

Ford, the smallest of the country's three manufacturers after Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors, will shut its assembly plant in Broadmeadows in northern Melbourne and an engine plant in Geelong to the west of the city, Ford Australia CEO Bob Graziano said.

Both plants are located in the state of Victoria.

Ford, which will continue to import vehicles through more than 200 dealers, has struggled with sliding sales in a fragmented market, high operating costs and a strong Australian dollar.

It has lost nearly 600 million Australian dollars ($578 million) in the country over five years, according to a statement issued Thursday in Australia.

"Our costs are double that of Europe and nearly four times Ford in Asia," Graziano said. "The business case simply did not stack up. Manufacturing is not viable for Ford in Australia."

The timing of the closure is also linked in part to the adoption of Euro 5 emission standards in Australia starting on Nov. 1, 2016, the Australia Financial Review reported.

Ford's current engine lineup used in the Australian market just met Euro 4 standards, and the Geelong plant would need to undergo a major overhaul to meet the tougher regulations, the Review said.

The closings had been expected given a 36 percent drop in sales of the Ford Falcon, a mainstay since 1960, last year, the paper said.

Ford has operated in the country since 1925, when founder Henry Ford first began building Model Ts in the country.

The company will try to maintain some of the 1,000 jobs at its r&d division in Melbourne, the Review said.

Australia is one of four product development hubs for Ford's global operations.

Car manufacturers have struggled as the strength of the Australian dollar has stoked sales of cheaper imported vehicles from southwest Asia and reduced exports.

The Australian market produced sales of 1.1 million vehicles in 2012, with 65 brands marketing 365 models, Ford officials said.

Last month General Motors Holden, the local unit of General Motors, said it was cutting 500 jobs, or 18 percent of its work force, as the unprecedented strength of the Australian dollar left it unable to compete with foreign rivals.

Ford has previously committed to make cars in Australia only until 2016 and said last July that it would cut about one in seven jobs from a workforce that then numbered 3,014.

"There will certainly be very large implications for businesses on the supply chain," said Richard Reilly, CEO of the Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers.

Jacques Nasser, chairman of the world's largest miner, BHP Billiton Ltd., and former CEO of Ford, told an event in Melbourne last month that the closure of one automaker could spark a "domino effect" in the industry.

"Let's assume one of the three decide to exit Australia in terms of manufacturing, then you end up potentially with a sub-scale supplier infrastructure," he said.

Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] announced today it will cease selling its Ford and Lincoln brands in the Japanese and Indonesian markets. The cited reason was a lack of a “reasonable path to profitability.”

The move is expected to take place in the second half of the year and will lead to a few hundred job cuts. A spokesperson for Ford confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that the automaker has 52 dealerships and 292 employees in Japan and 44 dealerships and 35 employees in Indonesia.

As drastic as pulling out of the market sounds, the move makes a lot of sense considering the sales numbers involved. In all of 2015, Ford and Lincoln managed just 5,000 sales in Japan. In Indonesia, where only the Ford brand is offered, the automaker managed a little over 6,000 sales for the year. That gave Ford market shares of 0.1 and 0.6 percent in the respective markets.

American makes have never sold in huge numbers in Japan and as Ford sees it conditions will only worsen. Demand for cars is expected to continue to fall as the population ages and more and more young people avoid buying a car.

In Indonesia the reasons are different. There, Ford faces a tough challenge against brands with local production due to punitive taxes for imported vehicles.

This year, Ford will also cease car and engine production in Australia. However, the automaker isn’t exiting the Aussie market completely. The models currently produced there are the Falcon and Territory.

Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] announced today it will cease selling its Ford and Lincoln brands in the Japanese and Indonesian markets. The cited reason was a lack of a “reasonable path to profitability.”

The move is expected to take place in the second half of the year and will lead to a few hundred job cuts. A spokesperson for Ford confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that the automaker has 52 dealerships and 292 employees in Japan and 44 dealerships and 35 employees in Indonesia.

As drastic as pulling out of the market sounds, the move makes a lot of sense considering the sales numbers involved. In all of 2015, Ford and Lincoln managed just 5,000 sales in Japan. In Indonesia, where only the Ford brand is offered, the automaker managed a little over 6,000 sales for the year. That gave Ford market shares of 0.1 and 0.6 percent in the respective markets.

Ford Replaces CEO Mark Fields With Jim Hackett Amid Pressure on Profit

May 22, 2017

Wary of Silicon Valley’s push into the car business, Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Mark Fields hired industry outsider Jim Hackett to help counter the threat in early 2016. Now Mr. Hackett is taking over the corner office.

Ford named Mr. Hackett, a former head of Steelcase Inc. who has been leading Ford’s “Smart Mobility” innovation unit, as its new CEO Monday morning. The shuffle ends Mr. Fields’s three-year tenure at the helm of the Dearborn, Mich., auto maker and ends a 28-year career at the company during which he developed a reputation as a hard-charging leader.

Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said Monday the car company his great-grandfather started in 1903 needs a fresh set of eyes. Speaking in an interview, Mr. Ford said the auto maker expects the 62-year-old Mr. Hackett to reinvent and re-energize the business.

He didn’t address specific departments or regions, but said Mr. Hackett is expected to “be in this job for a good long period—he’s got the energy for it.”

Mr. Ford noted “part of the job will be to teach and groom the next generation.” Himself a former chief executive of Ford, Mr. Ford said the auto maker faces challenges as the industry pivots from conventional cars and trucks to new forms of manufacturing, including parts made with 3-D printers, and new types of transportation, including autonomous vehicles.

Mr. Ford, long a supporter of Mr. Fields, didn’t directly comment on the departing CEO’s performance, but acknowledged the company has room for improvement in communicating with Wall Street and other constituents. Ford’s share price is down nearly 40% from when Mr. Fields succeeded Alan Mulally in 2014.

The board began discussing the move earlier in 2017, a year during which the company stock price slipped behind that of Tesla Inc., the electric-vehicle startup. The Tesla development, along with tension amid the management ranks, shook directors’ confidence in the strategy and direction, according to people familiar with the deliberations.

Mr. Hackett is known for clear communication and taking bold action. He made waves in the Detroit area in 2014 when, as interim athletic director for the University of Michigan, he recruited NFL coach Jim Harbaugh to lead Michigan’s vaunted football program. He most recently oversaw the formation of Ford Smart Mobility, a unit responsible for experimenting with car-sharing programs, self-driving ventures and other programs aimed to help the 114-year-old auto maker better compete with Uber Technologies Inc., Alphabet Inc. and other tech giants looking to edge in on the auto industry.

Jim Farley, recruited by Ford from Toyota Motor Corp. and credited with turning around European operations, will also be given a new prominent role. Mr. Farley, 54, will work directly under the 62-year-old Mr. Hackett as a potential successor, according to multiple people briefed on Ford’s plans.

A group of other executives will be reassigned.

Mr. Hackett is a one-time Ford board member known for an easy and straightforward style reminiscent of Alan Mulally, a longtime Boeing Co. executive recruited to run Ford in 2006. Mr. Mulally addressed the turmoil that permeated Ford’s management ranks at the time, sold off business units and shored up the balance sheet.

Mr. Mulally left Ford in 2014 as the company was on a winning streak. He benefited from a revamped product line that was built while avoiding the bankruptcies that hit Detroit rivals General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s Chrysler unit in 2009.

Mr. Fields, a turnaround artist known for overseeing revivals in Ford’s operations on several continents and within various business units, was a top lieutenant under Mr. Mulally and Bill Ford’s pick as the successor.

The company’s board and Mr. Ford, however, began discussing changes to the leadership team recently as the share price hovered around $11 a share—nearly 40% lower than when Mr. Fields took over. When the market capitalizations of Ford and GM were individually surpassed by Tesla Inc.’s earlier in this year, it underscored how far behind Detroit is perceived to be in the race to develop new technology.

One of several auto-industry outsiders recruited by Mr. Fields, Mr. Hackett was installed to be instrumental in helping Ford’s moves into transportation-related services. Auto executives are confronting changing attitudes toward car ownership. Uber, Google, Tesla and others are racing ahead with programs aimed at overtaking Detroit at the top of the U.S. car industry.

Those programs include electric vehicles, ride-hailing services and programs aimed at putting vehicles on the road entirely capable of driving without human intervention. Mr. Fields has been planning to launch driverless cars early next decade, but it has been far behind Tesla and GM on electric-car development. Executives have struggled to explain how Ford will make money on services other than developing, producing and selling automobiles.

Ford has posted a series of solid profits under Mr. Fields, aided by renewed demand for pickups and sport utilities that deliver higher margins and do well in an era of cheaper gasoline. Mr. Farley, meanwhile, helped deliver more than $1 billion in profit in Europe last year, with the favorable result coming as GM exited that region due to persistent losses and a lack of confidence in its German Opel unit.

Mr. Fields, however, has struggled with Wall Street. Analysts and investors have routinely questioned the company’s ability to weather the next industry downturn.

Ford Lowers Full-Year Outlook

Earnings fell 48% in second quarter; higher commodity costs hurt auto maker’s results

July 25, 2018 4:49 p.m. ET

Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday reported a 48% drop in second-quarter net income and lowered its 2018 profit outlook, citing tariff-related commodity cost pressures and trouble in Asia and Europe. It also outlined plans for a broad, multiyear restructuring that could result in $11 billion in charges.

Ford’s net income of $1.1 billion was hampered by about $300 million in higher commodity costs compared with a year earlier, nearly half of which stemmed from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said during a roundtable discussion with reporters. The company expects the effect of the tariffs to shave as much as $600 million from the bottom line this year, Mr. Shanks said.

Ford’s struggles deepened in China, where sales sank 26% in the first six months of the year. Ford’s China business swung to an operating loss of $483 million, from a $23 million profit a year earlier. Mr. Shanks said Ford’s product portfolio has grown stale in the world’s largest car market, which has hurt both sales volumes and pricing.

The No. 2 U.S. auto maker by sales posted adjusted earnings per share of 27 cents, short of analysts’ average forecast of 31 cents. Revenue fell 2% to $38.9 billion.

Ford also was hurt by a nearly $600 million hit from a drop in truck production stemming from a disruption at a parts supplier, which idled Ford’s truck plants for more than a week in May.

Ford Chief Executive Jim Hackett was appointed more than a year ago to set a long-term plan for the auto maker as innovations such as driverless and electric cars, and ride-sharing, threaten to transform the industry’s century-old business model. He also has emphasized improving Ford’s financial “fitness” by boosting profitability, in part through a plan to slash $25.5 billion in cumulative expenses by 2022.

The restructuring effort would be separate from those cost cuts, Mr. Shanks said. He declined to give specifics but said the restructuring will be aimed at directing resources toward the most profitable and highest-potential parts of the business, such as the company’s truck lineup in North America, which generates the bulk of Ford’s bottom line.

Rival General Motors Co. earlier Wednesday also said rising commodity costs, particularly steel, hurt second-quarter results. The Trump administration’s 25% tariff on steel and 10% tariff on aluminum took effect June 1.

Ford is betting its future in the States on crossovers and SUVs by ditching most saloons and hatchbacks and focusing on high-riding vehicles instead.

Announced this spring, the decision is official and will soon see the brand stopping national ads for sedans, reports AutoNews, as the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion (Mondeo) and Taurus will slowly be phased out.

As a result, Ford’s dealer network will have to sell the remaining four-door cars without the help of advertising campaigns, as their budget will be redirected into promoting the next-gen SUVs, as well as the Mustang, which has secured a future in the Blue Oval’s U.S. portfolio.

Dealers will, however, get some help from Ford, as “we can’t let them just sit on the inventory”, said Blue Oval’s Vice President of U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service, Mark LaNeve. “We’ll keep them competitive on incentives, but we’re certainly not spending money there in a way where we’d be driving the market. We’re accepting the share we’ve got.”

As for the decision to stop advertising sedans in the United States, LaNeve said: “It allows us to focus our resources. If we can take that money from sedans, where we have a middle-of-the-road position, to be the leading brand in SUVs, that’d be a really good position.”

Ford’s new car sales dropped 21 percent in August; at the same time, those of the Mustang rose by 35 percent and deliveries of pickup trucks and vans were up by a 5.9 percent increase, while sales of utility vehicles went up by 20 percent.

Ford to Slash Jobs, Shut Plants in Major European Revamp

Jan. 10, 2019

BERLIN— Ford Motor Co. is launching an overhaul of its loss-making European business that is expected to include thousands of job cuts, plant closures and the scrapping of low-profit models amid a storm of bad news for global car makers.

The move is part of a broad cost-cutting effort Ford Chief Executive Jim Hackett has embarked on in a rapidly changing automotive landscape buffeted by electric vehicles and a push toward autonomous driving. In October, Ford informed employees of a global reorganization that could affect salaried jobs, part of Mr. Hackett’s push to improve profits and boost its flagging stock price.

Steven Armstrong, the company’s president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, declined to provide details on the planned job cuts during a call with reporters Thursday, saying they would be made across the board throughout Europe and were still being negotiated with trade unions, as local labor laws often mandate.

However, he said the belt-tightening would “have a substantial impact” with details expected to be available by the end of June.

“It will be a significant number within the 50,000 we employ,” he added.

The restructuring is the latest sign that waning demand and weaker profits in Europe, amid concerns around Brexit, trade, the gradual death of diesel engines and an economic slowdown in China, are forcing auto manufacturers to aggressively prune their businesses after years of steady growth.

From January to October, the most recent data available, Ford sold 839,223 vehicles in the European Union, down 1.6% from the previous year and giving the company a 6.4% share of the European market.

In a separate announcement Thursday, Jaguar Land Rover, the British premium car maker, said it would cut 4,500 jobs world-wide. JLR has been struggling with weaker demand in China and a dramatic decline in diesel vehicle sales in Europe.

Ford rival General Motors Co. announced in 2018 that it would close five plants in the U.S. and Canada, after selling its European business in 2017, to boost profitability and focus investment on new technology.

Unlike GM, Ford said it would stick it out in Europe, at least for now.

“We decided the best option is to stay in Europe as long as we can reset the business and make it profitable,” Ford’s Mr. Armstrong said.

Ford, he said, has had trouble making money in Europe for decades. But a convergence of global trends—including pressure to invest in new technology and consumer preferences shifting away from traditional sedans to larger sport-utility vehicles and light trucks—coupled with a mandate to increase profits from Ford headquarters were driving the restructuring decision.

The move in Europe is among the first elements of a broad, multiyear restructuring of Ford’s global operations. Last summer, the auto maker said it would take up to five years to execute an $11 billion restructuring, but has offered few details about what parts of the business might be scrapped or sold off, leading to some frustration among analysts and investors.

In October, Chief Executive Jim Hackett cited an “unexpected deterioration” in Europe as a key reason why Ford cut its goal of achieving an 8% global operating-profit margin by 2020. Ford’s losses in Europe widened to $245 million in the third quarter.

The aim of the new plan is to boost Europe’s operating-profit margin to about 6% in the midterm, still shy of Mr. Hackett’s global target.

To get there, Ford is planning to stop making models that aren’t profitable. The first to go are the company’s C-Max compact car and Grand C-Max family sedan. As a result of scrapping those models, Ford will close a shift at its factory in Saarlouis, Germany, eliminating 1,600 jobs. The company has already stopped making those models in the U.S.

“The industry has spent years chasing unprofitable business,” Mr. Armstrong said. “Portions of our business are profitable. We need to address the portion of our business which isn’t profitable.”

Ford will also shut down production at its Ford Aquitaine plant in Bordeaux, France, where it makes transmissions, clutches and other components.

In the U.K., where Ford’s operations are suffering from the political uncertainty surrounding Britain’s planned exit from the EU, Ford is merging some administrative offices and functions. For now, Mr. Armstrong said, no decision had been taken to close its engine and components plants in Dagenham and Bridgend. But, he said: “Nothing is off the table.”

Ford Swings to a Loss, Misses Analysts’ Profit Estimates

All regional businesses except North America post losses for the fourth quarter and the year

Jan. 23, 2019 4:20 p.m. ET

Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter operating income dropped 28% amid worsening losses in China and Europe, underscoring the pressure on the auto maker’s stout U.S. business as Chief Executive Jim Hackett tries to revitalize the company.

The company’s operating income, which is adjusted for one-time items, totaled $1.5 billion, generated entirely by its lending arm and the North American business. Each of Ford’s four other regional businesses posted losses for the quarter and the year.

Ford’s net income swung to a loss of $116 million, from a $2.5 billion profit a year earlier, partly from a nearly $900 million, noncash hit to the value of its global pension plans, driven by the stock-market downturn late last year.

Fourth-quarter earnings per share were 30 cents, below the 32 cent average forecast of Wall Street analysts. Ford had disclosed the fourth-quarter EPS results during a presentation to analysts last week.

For the full year, Ford’s operating income fell 27% to $7 billion. Finance chief Bob Shanks on Wednesday reiterated that 2019 could be an improvement over last year, but that many variables remain out of the company’s control, including trade uncertainty and commodity costs.

“The external environment has been quite volatile. Policy matters have been unpredictable,” Mr. Shanks told reporters Wednesday, noting that tariffs cost the company more than $750 million last year.

Mr. Hackett’s turnaround plan hinges on restructuring weak parts of the business around the globe, including Europe, while betting bigger on trucks and SUVs in the U.S. Ford is also slashing a cumulative $25.5 billion in costs by 2022 while overhauling its lineup of vehicles in most major markets after letting some of them age for longer than they should have, executives have said.

Still, analysts have expressed frustration with the pace of Mr. Hackett’s efforts and have said he should offer more specifics about his plan. Ford shares tumbled last week after the company offered an uncertain outlook for 2019. Some analysts said the effect of the cost-cutting effort has been slow to show up in Ford’s bottom line.

Retrospective: Ford Flex Stood Out as Bold, Fun and Fashionable in a Crowded Minivan/SUV Segment

Oct 28, 2019

DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 28, 2019 – Fun and fashionable, the 2008 Ford Flex dared to be bold. It gained a loyal following as a stylish, roomy wagon blending sport/utility vehicle and minivan capability in a low-slung retro-inspired package.

Today, as part of a plan to strengthen its focus on products in the heart of the fastest-growing segments, Ford is saying goodbye to the Flex, a crossover wagon that dared to be different. Production that began to celebrity fanfare is now winding down after more than a decade at Ford’s Oakville Assembly Complex.

With its formula of offering a family-size interior and amenities on a platform that drove more like a car than a full-size SUV, Flex’s unique, innovative look – created by designers with backgrounds in fashion instead of cars and trucks – made a statement. Its interior was created by Ford interior designer Anthony Prozzi, who worked in the New York fashion industry. He and his team brought in quilted leather seating surfaces and mahogany inserts in the door panels that resembled the surface of a beautiful roll-top desk. For a time, Flex also could be ordered with a real refrigerator in the console between the second-row seats.

“Flex broke the mold. It had both crossover and minivan elements in a hip, trendy package that stood out from what was becoming a really boring minivan segment,” said Chris Kessler, Ford Flex marketing manager. “Its design traced its roots to the traditional family station wagons that many of our customers remember growing up with, but it brought forward modern sport/utility design elements and features both parents and kids loved.”

Celebrities, sports stars and rappers leveraged the unique urban styling of Ford Flex to create custom designs from the very beginning. Funkmaster Flex and Nelly opened the 2008 SEMA show with their own tricked-out versions featuring custom paint schemes, exotic leather interiors and audio/video entertainment systems fit for a superstar – plus their friends and family, of course, in the roomy seven-passenger crossover.

That superstar appeal helped build a loyal following in hip, big-city markets with more than half of Flex sales in Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco through 2019. Through the course of its 11-year run, Ford sold more than 296,000 units overall of its unconventional crossover wagon.

Flex was also a favorite among hip comedians and late-night talk shows, several of whom featured the Flex in videos or customized their own versions, which they often used in appearances around Los Angeles. Baseball player Royce Clayton and his sprinter wife Samantha Davies were featured in regional Ford ads along with their children in a Ford Flex.

For traditional custom car fans, designer Chip Foose took the unique design with its flat roof and ribbed side panels to create a stunning wagon-inspired custom ride. On 22-inch Foose Design wheels and lowered chassis with custom blended two-tone blue and cream pearl paint, the “Foose Flex” debuted luxury, performance and style at the 2008 SEMA show.

Ford Motor Company’s Oakville Assembly Complex also built the Lincoln MKT, which ended production earlier this month.

As previously announced, Ford is aiming to replace 75 percent of its current portfolio by the end of 2020. It’s expanding its family of truck and utility vehicles and will feature more hybrid models and more electric vehicle choices, including the launch of an all-new Mustang-inspired electric performance utility vehicle in 2020. To meet shifting consumer demand Ford is working to significantly reduce manufacturing complexity time to ensure its dealers and customers get the latest, most innovative new vehicles more quickly.

Ford to lay off 450 workers in Canada as Flex production ends

October 28, 2019

TORONTO — About 450 workers at Ford Motor Co.’s Oakville assembly plant in Canada will be laid off by early 2020 after the automaker ends production of the Ford Flex there.

In an email to Automotive News Canada, Ford of Canada spokeswoman Lauren More said Oakville workers were set to be told of the decision on Monday morning.

The move comes as Ford “strengthens its focus on products in the heart of the fastest growing segments to meet shifting consumer demands,” More wrote. “Oakville Assembly will adjust production levels, resulting in approximately 450 layoffs in early 2020.”

More said Flex production would end the week of Nov. 25, while Lincoln MKT production has already stopped. Oakville also builds the higher-volume Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus crossovers.

It is the second round of layoffs at the plant in Oakville, Ontario, in less than a year. Ford in July said it would cut about 200 jobs at the plant by September while also slowing production there as a way to align “production with consumer demand.”

Unifor, which represents about 4,600 workers at the plant, has expected the end of Flex production since it wrapped up 2016 collective bargaining with Ford, though this is the first time the automaker has confirmed an end-date for it.

The writing has been on the wall for the Flex and MKT for quite a while. Ford had not announced plans for a redesigned Flex, even as it invests heavily in its light truck lineup. The new Lincoln Aviator, assembled in Chicago, replaced the MKT earlier this year, and recent MKT production had largely been for Ford’s fleet customers.

The Flex and MKT have eked out low sales relative to the rest of the Ford and Lincoln lineups. U.S. deliveries for the Flex fell 9 percent to 20,308 in 2018. With 18,337 sales in the United States through September, the Flex is the Ford brand’s lowest selling light truck nameplate by a wide margin. When excluding the Aviator, which went on sale earlier this year, the same is true for the MKT in Lincoln’s lineup.

U.S. sales of the Flex, a minivan alternative, have totaled nearly 300,000 since it debuted in 2008, with annual volume peaking at 38,717 in 2009.

It’s a similar sales picture in Canada, where Ford sold 2,418 Flex crossovers through September, trailing all other Ford light trucks. The automaker sold just 86 MKT crossovers in Canada in that same period.

Through September, the Oakville plant has produced 19,956 Flex crossovers and 2,918 MKT crossovers, combining to account for about 12 percent of the 191,663 vehicles assembled there, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Edge production accounted for the bulk of vehicle assembly, as the plant produced 126,055 of the crossovers in that timespan.

The end of production comes less than a year before the start of 2020 labor negotiations between Ford and Unifor. Securing investment and future product commitments at Oakville will likely be a top priority for the union, which will represent just four Detroit 3 assembly plants in Canada following the end of vehicle production at General Motors’ Oshawa, Ont., factory later in 2019.

In an interview with Automotive News Canada on Oct. 22, Ford of Canada CEO Dean Stoneley said the automaker is committed to the plant, though he declined to discuss specifics about future product plans there.

Ford reports $2 billion first-quarter loss

April 28, 2020

Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday reported a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss and missed dimmer sales expectations as the coronavirus pandemic continued to snuff demand for big-ticket items and kept factories closed.

Ford said it lost $2 billion, or 50 cents a share, versus a profit of $1.1 billion, or 29 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2019. Adjusted for one-time items, the car maker lost 23 cents a share, contrasting with an adjusted profit of 44 cents a year ago.

Sales fell 15% to $34.3 billion from $40.3 billion a year ago.

Analysts had expected Ford to report GAAP and adjusted losses of 8 cents a share on sales of $34.7 billion. Shares fell 6% in the extended session after ending the regular trading day up 4.1%.

Ford Reports a Loss and Drops a Bombshell in Its Outlook. Here’s Why the Stock Isn’t Dropping More.

April 28, 2020

Detroit auto maker and iconic American manufacturer Ford Motor’s first-quarter earnings missed Wall Street estimates. But that actually isn’t the bad news: Results in the second quarter are about to get far worse because of Covid-19.

Ford reported a per-share loss of 23 cents and $34.3 billion in sales. Sales in the first quarter of 2019 tallied $40.3 billion. Wall Street had predicted a loss of 8 cents a share.

The miss isn’t the most surprising part. Ford earnings estimates, like most auto companies , have been coming down recently. Analyst estimates for Ford’s first-quarter earnings were 36 cents a share just three months ago.

Second-quarter guidance is what is most shocking: Ford expects to lose about $5 billion in operating profit for the quarter ending in June.

Everyone knows things are tough for car companies as the coronavirus pandemic continues. No one is making cars, and few U.S. consumers are buying them. But the $5 billion loss is about twice as large as analysts expected only a few days ago.

Ford shares are down about 5.6% in after hours trading. The losses aren’t larger because shares have already been hammered. Year to date, Ford shares are down about 47% year to date, far worse than the double-digit drops of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Ford, for now, is focused on its balance sheet and maintaining ample liquidity. During the quarter, Ford borrowed $15 billion from existing credit facilities and raised another $8 billion in bond sales. Management says Ford and Ford Credit have $35.1 billion and $28 billion in liquidity, respectively.

Don’t forget Ford, like other auto makers, has a large lending arm, making simple comparisons of net debt to operating earnings more difficult. Ford’s credit arm increased reserves for future loan losses, mirroring what large U.S. banks did when reporting first-quarter numbers.

“We’ve taken decisive actions to lower our costs and capital expenditures and been opportunistic in strengthening our balance sheet and optimizing our financial flexibility,” said Ford CFO Tim Stone in the company’s news release. “We believe the company’s cash is sufficient to take us through the end of the year, even with no additional vehicle wholesales or financing actions.”

Enough cash through year-end is a bit of good news for investors.

On average, American motorists are paying $1.97 for a gallon of regular unleaded. Filling up a gas guzzler is stunningly affordable in 2020, but Ford doesn't think low gas prices will decimate demand for electric cars.

Mark Kaufman, the Blue Oval's global director of electrification, told Green Car Reports that his team hesitantly believes up to a third of all vehicles sold globally in 2030 will be electric. He explained predicting precisely how demand will develop is difficult, especially because there's no historical data to draw lessons from, but his team remains committed to bringing a number of battery-powered models to Ford's portfolio during the 2020s.

"A lot of the different CO2 demands from around the world are going to drive us that way. Ford's perspective is that, in order to meet demand, you've got to really come up with a compelling reason for the customers to buy," he explained. The difference between the 2021 Mustang Mach-E, which was developed as an EV from the ground up, and the now-retired Focus Electric, which was a compliance car, perfectly illustrates this strategy.

Ford hopes making electric cars attractive will convince buyers to give up gasoline regardless of whether it costs one, two, or four bucks a gallon. "We think people are buying them because they're great products first," Kaufman affirmed, though he conceded the cost of ownership remains important to some buyers, notably those shopping for a commercial van like a Transit. Here again, the aforementioned Mach-E (pictured) demonstrates Ford's approach well. It's stylish, it's quick, it's practical, and it's exclusively offered with an electric powertrain. Its frunk can keep shrimp and other snacks fresh, but it can't accommodate a naturally-aspirated, 5.0-liter V8 engine.

Putting a desirable car in showrooms is futile if no one can afford it, and that's a hurdle Ford and its rivals will need to clear before the EV take rate takes off. Electric cars remain considerably more expensive than comparable gasoline-powered models, though government-issued incentives help decrease the gap, and the giant question mark still hovering over the economy's future may mean buyers will spend less on a new car (or keep their current vehicle for longer). It's still too early to tell what the market will look like when the dust settles, but Ford remains optimistic as it busily develops its first mass-produced electric pickup truck.

Ford Announces Jim Hackett to Retire as President and CEO; Jim Farley to Succeed Hackett as Company Continues Transformation

Aug 4, 2020 | DEARBORN, Mich.
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• Jim Hackett, who has led Ford Motor Company’s transformation since 2017 as president and CEO, has elected to retire from the company
• Jim Farley, currently chief operating officer, becomes president and CEO of Ford effective Oct. 1. He was also elected to the Ford board of directors. He will work closely with Jim Hackett on the transition over the next two months
• Seamless CEO transition underscores strength of Ford’s leadership team, succession planning, and company progress over the past three years, Executive Chairman Bill Ford says

DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 4, 2020 – Ford Motor Company today announced that Jim Hackett, who has led the company’s transformation since 2017, plans to retire from the company. Jim Farley has been named the company’s new president and CEO and will join the board of directors, effective Oct. 1.

Hackett, 65, and Farley, 58, will work together on a smooth leadership transition over the next two months.

Under Hackett, Ford moved aggressively into the new era of smart vehicles and drove a deeper focus on customers’ wants and needs. At the same time, Ford improved the fitness of the base business – restructuring operations, invigorating the product portfolio and reducing bureaucracy.

“I am very grateful to Jim Hackett for all he has done to modernize Ford and prepare us to compete and win in the future,” said Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chairman. “Our new product vision – led by the Mustang Mach-E, new F-150 and Bronco family – is taking shape. We now have compelling plans for electric and autonomous vehicles, as well as full vehicle connectivity. And we are becoming much more nimble, which was apparent when we quickly mobilized to make life-saving equipment at the outset of the pandemic.”

Farley, an automotive leader with deep global experience and a successful track record, collaborated with Hackett over the past three years to develop and execute Ford’s Creating Tomorrow Together plan to transform Ford into a higher-growth, higher-margin business.

“Jim Farley matches an innate feel for cars and customers with great instincts for the future and the new technologies that are changing our industry,” Bill Ford said. “Jim’s passion for great vehicles and his intense drive for results are well known, and I have also seen him develop into a transformational leader with the determination and foresight to help Ford thrive into the future.”

Farley joined Ford in 2007 as global head of Marketing and Sales and went on to lead Lincoln, Ford South America, Ford of Europe and all Ford global markets in successive roles. In April 2019, Farley was chosen to lead Ford’s New Businesses, Technology & Strategy team, helping the company determine how to capitalize on powerful forces reshaping the industry – such as software platforms, connectivity, AI, automation and new forms of propulsion. He was named chief operating officer in February of this year.

Hackett, who will continue as a special advisor to Ford through March of 2021, said the time is right to pass the mantle of leadership to Jim Farley.

“My goal when I took on the CEO role was to prepare Ford to win in the future,” Hackett said. “The hardest thing for a proud, long-lived company to do is change to meet the challenges of the world it’s entering rather than the world it has known. I’m very proud of how far we have come in creating a modern Ford and I am very optimistic about the future.

“I have worked side-by-side with Jim Farley for the past three years and have the greatest confidence in him as a person and a leader,” Hackett said. “He has been instrumental in crafting our new product portfolio and redesigning our businesses around the world. He is also a change agent with a deep understanding of how to lead Ford in this new era defined by smart vehicles in a smart world.”

Said Farley: “I love Ford and I am honored by the opportunity to serve and create value for Ford’s employees, customers, dealers, communities and all of our stakeholders. Jim Hackett has laid the foundation for a really vibrant future and we have made tremendous progress in the past three years. I am so excited to work together with the whole Ford team to realize the full potential of this great company in a new era.”

Ford’s Farley shuffles executives on first day as CEO

October 01, 2020 08:00 AM

DETROIT — Tim Stone, Ford Motor Co.'s CFO, is stepping down after only a year and a half in the position to take a new role at an artificial intelligence company, one of a handful of executive changes announced Thursday as Jim Farley takes over as CEO.

John Lawler, head of Ford's autonomous vehicle company, will become Ford's CFO effective immediately. Lawler, 54, has held a number of roles during his 30-year career, including president of Ford China and CFO of Global Markets.

Stone, 53, is leaving to become COO and CFO of ASAPP Inc. and will be the second Detroit 3 CFO to leave this year for a technology company. He will remain with Ford through Oct. 15.

“John knows our company inside-out, has a clear view and great ambition for what Ford can be, and articulates what’s needed to get there,” Farley said in a statement. “As CFO, he will help assure we have the means to fund those ambitions.”

Farley worked closely with Lawler in recent years when Farley was head of new businesses, technology and strategy. Both men spent considerable time in Silicon Valley picking the brains of tech leaders to help shape Ford's future.

Other moves

In addition, Ford said that Joy Falotico, its chief marketing officer and president of Lincoln, will step down as marketing chief to focus on her role leading Ford's luxury brand. Falotico, 53, has held the dual role since 2018.

“This change will allow Joy to focus on accelerating Lincoln’s global growth through great vehicles and services and a truly differentiated customer experience,” said Kumar Galhotra, Ford's president of the Americas and international markets. “Lincoln’s completely refreshed lineup is resonating with customers in the U.S. as well as in China, where we are now producing the Lincoln Aviator and Corsair locally, for Chinese customers – and that’s just the beginning.”

Ford said it would name a new chief marketing officer "shortly."

Ford also announced a pair of retirements: Jeff Lemmer, its chief information officer, will retire Jan. 1. Dale Wishnousky, its vice president of manufacturing for Ford Europe, will retire at the end of the year.

Kieran Cahill, 53, previously Ford of Europe's director, manufacturing and strategic projects, will succeed Wishnousky, effective immediately. Ford said it would name a new CIO soon.

Setting goals

Farley on Thursday also reaffirmed a number of Ford’s goals for the future, including hitting 8 percent adjusted EBIT margins globally. Ford is also working to hit 10 percent margins in North America.

Farley, as he has said in the past, noted Ford will focus on commercial vehicles, add more affordable nameplates and electrify both Ford and Lincoln models including the F-Series, Transit and Mustang. He promised to “allocate more capital, resources and talent” to the company’s strongest businesses and vehicle franchises, continuing a trend following former CEO Jim Hackett’s 2018 decision to cut sedans.

“During the past three years, under Jim Hackett’s leadership, we have made meaningful progress and opened the door to becoming a vibrant, profitably growing company,” Farley said. “Now it’s time to charge through that door.”