Ford , the automaker , lost $ 2.791 billion in the final quarter of 2020, plunging losses in the past year to $ 1.276 billion, for the first time since 2008, closing in numbers. Reds after making a net profit of $ 84 million in 2019.
The effects of the pandemic were visible in the results presented this Thursday by Ford: the company’s car sales fell 22 percent in 2020, to 4 million 187 thousand vehicles, which reduced its revenue by 18.4 percent, to 127 thousand 144 million dollars.
Ford also noted that its adjusted earnings before interest and taxes stood at $ 2.8 billion in 2020, 56.25 percent less than in 2019. Even so, it ended the year with $ 47 billion in liquid, which the company’s top officials said will allow investment in the manufacturer’s transformation.
Despite the losses, Ford said it ended 2020 “strong, improving its auto and financing businesses in the fourth quarter,” with earnings before interest and taxes of $ 1.7 billion, a 250 percent increase over the previous year. same period of 2019. By region, Ford said its North American revenue in 2020 totaled $ 80 billion (18 percent less than in 2019) with earnings before interest and taxes of $ 3.625 billion.
In South America, Ford’s revenue fell 37 percent to $ 2.5 billion, with losses of $ 491 million. In Europe , Ford’s revenue stood at $ 22.6 billion (20 percent less) with losses of $ 834 million. In China , revenue totaled $ 3.2 billion (a drop of 11 percent) with profits of $ 270 million.
In the rest of the world, Ford’s revenue was $ 7.5 billion, 24 percent less than in 2019, and a loss of $ 165 million. During a conference call with financial analysts and the media, Jim Farley , Ford’s president and CEO, referred to the company’s situation in South America, which he described as “unacceptable,” and the decision to stop producing vehicles in Brazil.
“Over the past decade we lost more than $ 4.5 billion in South America. It is unacceptable. In 2020 we exited the nonessential heavy truck business, discontinued the focus on Fiesta, and further reduced our workforce by more than 40 percent by the end. last year, “Farley explained.
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Ford also announced that it will increase its investments for the development and production of electric vehicles to $ 29 billion . Of this figure, 22 billion dollars will be invested between now and 2025, almost double what was initially planned.
“Ford’s transformation is happening, as is our leadership in the electric vehicle revolution and the development of automatic driving,” said Farley. “Now we are going to put 29 billion dollars in capital and great talent in these two areas and we are going to produce for our customers all-road, SUV, commercial vans and electric pickups, connected and in high volumes,” he added.
Lowler also noted that in 2021 Ford expects adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of between $ 8 billion and $ 9 billion, which includes a non-cash gain of $ 900 million on its investment in electric vehicle maker Rivian.
In addition, Ford will generate between $ 3.5 billion and $ 4.5 billion of free cash flow, although the company added that problems with the supply of chips “are creating uncertainty in multiple industries and will influence Ford’s operating results in 2021 “.
