October 29, 2020

Despite the Economic Slowdown, Ford's International Market Group Squeezed a Profit


Ford’s operations in the International Market Group (IMG) that includes the Philippines ended up with a slight profit in the third quarter of 2020 despite pandemic-related industry declines in vehicle shipments.

The International Market Group posted a USD 72 million profit with its Earnings Before Income Tax (EBIT) margins at 3.5 percent for the third quarter. This comes as a surprise as wholesale shipment from assembly plants such as Ford Manufacturing Thailand (FTM) and Auto Alliance Thailand (AAT) were down 18 percent to 76,000 units.

Sadly, the IMG’s year-to-date results still remain soft with wholesale shipments down 37 percent (191,000 units), and a loss of USD 104 million.

Elsewhere, Ford’s performance in China is in an upswing thanks to an increase in their SUV line-up. Shipments there are up 22 percent thanks to strong response to locally-built versions of the Explorer, Escape, as well as the Lincoln Aviator and Corsair. In North America, thanks to stronger than anticipated demand for the F-Series pickup truck and Transit, they generated a profit of USD 3.178 billion.

Ford said that Europe was supposed to post a profit but a supplier issue related to battery fires in the Kuga (Escape) PHEV crossover led to an overall loss.

This will not affect Ford’s plans to roll out more hybrids and fully-electric vehicles. Ford president and CEO Jim Farley says they will roll out 12 hybrid and fully-electric vehicles globally including an all-electric version of its Transit van. This is on top of three vehicles destined to arrive in North American showrooms later this year: the all-new 2022 F-150, Bronco Sport, and Mustang Mach-E. The full-sized Bronco will arrive in 2021.

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