Ford sustains solid profits as North American market rebounds
Company looks to NA and Asia markets for future growth
2013/08/22
- Summary
- "ONE Ford" plan and Lincoln brand revival central to overall strategy
- Europe: the focus for vehicle refreshes
- Ford gains hybrid and electric vehicle market share
- Global unit sales flat in 2012 despite growth in NA and Asia; Strong growth predicted going forward
- Ford profit strong in 2012; Expects continued strength in 2013
- Strong demand for new products encourage plant investments
- Production Forecast by LMC Automotive: strong light-vehicle production for Ford through 2016
Summary
 Source: LMC Automotive, Global Automotive Production Forecast, June 2013 |
The North American automobile industry continues its strong recovery as consumers replace their ageing vehicles and better household finances allow car buyers to take advantage of low-cost loans. Ford has benefitted greatly from this recovery, where sales in North America were chiefly responsible for overall profits in 2012 of USD 8.0 billion before taxes. However, growth has flattened out as global unit sales of 5.7 million units decreased slightly, or (0.5) percent from 2011. However this is still up over 2010 results of 5.3 million units.
Going forward, Ford sees its greatest potential for growth in North America and Asia. The company is increasing global production capacity to meet the anticipated demand. LMC Automotive is forecasting an increase in Ford's global light vehicle production through 2016. The increase for the period 2011-2016 is expected to average 4.6% annually with most of this capacity coming from new investments in North America and in Asia Pacific Africa, particularly China, India, and Thailand.
Related Reports:
US Market: Continued growth spurs investment
Turkey: Ford to consolidate production of LCVs in Europe
North American International Auto Show 2013 (1): US and European OEMs
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