Ford reports heavy losses as Trump’s tariffs bite
US automobile giant Ford closed the last quarter with a heavy loss of US$11.1 billion ($15.7 billion).
The deciding factors were the restructuring of its heavy-loss electric vehicle business, a fire at an aluminum supplier and U.S. President Donald Trump’s import tariffs, according to results released Tuesday.
The US automaker has already announced a loss of US$19.5 billion ($27.6 billion) on battery-powered vehicles.
Ford closed the same quarter last year with a profit of US$1.8 billion ($2.5 billion).
Sales fell 5% year-on-year to US$45.9 billion ($64.9 billion).
At the division level, the picture was similar to previous quarters: the electric car division reported an operating loss of US$1.2 billion ($1.7 billion).
Meanwhile, internal combustion engine cars generated operating profits for Ford of US$727 million (A$A1 billion), with its commercial vehicle division earning around US$1.2 billion (A$A1.7 billion) on that basis.
Following Tesla’s success, leading US automakers General Motors, Ford and Stellantis invested billions of dollars to add more electric cars to their model lineups.
Ford plans to focus more on hybrid vehicles and smaller models in the electric car segment in the future.
The all-electric version of the big F-150 pickup truck has been discontinued.
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