Despite Strong Sales, Ford Revenue Down in 2012

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had its best fourth quarter of sales in over a decade in 2012, but it was not enough to offset a year with lower profits and revenue. Ford suffered major losses in Europe and losses in other markets as well. However, vehicle sales were actually up to 5.708 million cars, an increase of 54,000 cars. 

Ford had a 2012 pre-tax profit of $7.996 billion, which is down $807 million from last year. Its net income was $5.7 billion, which was $307 million lower than 2011. 

By region, Ford had a very difficult year. It would have had a higher pre-tax income for the year, if it only sold cars in North America. Losses in Europe were nearly $2 billion and losses in Asia improved to a $77 million loss. While the South American region showed a profit, it was down over $600 million from the previous year. Even Ford's financial services division recorded significantly lower profits than the year before. 

Ford had record profits in North America and record deliveries there of 2.784 million cars, a 98,000 vehicle improvement. Ford had a pre-tax profit of $8.3 billion, a $2.152 billion increase compared to last year.  

The company's losses came from two primary areas - Europe and South America. However, there were also losses in Asia. South American pre-tax profit was $213 million, compared to $861 million in 2011. It sold 489,000 cars there in 2012, a decrease of 8,000 cars from 2011. 

Things in Europe were even worse. It had a pre-tax profit of -$1.753 billion, meaning that Ford of Europe cost Ford nearly two billion dollars. That is compared to last year's loss of $27 million in pre-tax profit. Vehicles deliveries were down 249,000 cars to 1.35 million vehicles. 

In Asia, Ford had a pre-tax profit of -$77 million. While that is a loss, it is an improvement compared to the -$92 million profit in Asia in 2011. Ford sold 1.033 billion vehicles there in 2012, an improvement of 132,000 cars. 

Finally, Ford's financial services and credit division had a pre-tax income of $1.71 billion, which was $721 million lower than in 2011. 

Ford has $24.3 billion is gross cash ready to invest and has $14.3 billion in debt.

“We are well positioned for another strong year in 2013, as we continue our plan to serve customers in all markets around the world with a full family of vehicles — small, medium and large; cars, utilities and trucks — with the very best quality, fuel efficiency, safety, smart design and value," said Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally. 

However, the fourth quarter was quite strong for Ford. It made $1.681 billion in pre-tax profit in the quarter, which is $577 million higher than the fourth quarter of 2011. Its fourth quarter net income was $1.598 billion, which is $565 million higher than the same quarter of 2011. 

Ford is predicting that vehicle sales will continue to rise in the first quarter of 2013. It is predicting more sales in all regions except for Europe, which it thinks will decline by 13,000 cars. It believes that worldwide sales in the first quarter of 2013 will be 1.565 million cars, a 160,000 vehicle increase over 2012.