Ford Posts Third Quarter Profit of $997 Million

Amidst slumping sales and a global recession, Ford posted its first operating profit since 2008, pulling in a net earning net earnings of $997 million after taxes in the third quarter of 2009.

The company’s profit comes thanks to its work at reducing structured costs by $4.6 billion over the year — exceeding its goal of a $4 billion reduction — and the introduction of new products leading to market share increases in North and South America and Europe. Also, for the first time since 2005, North America proved to be profitable for the Dearborn-based automaker. Ford posted a pre-tax operating profit of $357 million in North America alone in the third quarter.

“Our third quarter results clearly show that Ford is making tremendous progress despite the prolonged slump in the global economy,” said Alan Mulally, Ford President and CEO. “Our solid product lineup is leading the way in all markets. While we still face a challenging road ahead, our One Ford transformation plan is working and our underlying business continues to grow stronger.”

Because of its profit, Ford ended the third quarter with $23.8 billion in gross cash, $4.9 billion more than the company was estimating. Ford says it will be solidly profitable by 2011, but there’s still the matter of the company carrying a substantial amount of debt. According to the company’s release, it’s in the hole for about $1.3 billion in the first nine months of 2009.

Ford’s 2010 outlook is cautious, but it hopes a string of new product launches – including the Fiesta, a new Focus, a pair of electric vehicles, and an EcoBoost F-150 – in 2010/2011 will help the company continue to gain momentum.