Ford Motor Co. posted a $1.63 billion third-quarter net profit, nearly matching its year-earlier total, as record high earnings in North America more than offset mounting losses in Europe. Pretax operating profit rose to a record $2.16 billion from $1.94 billion a year earlier, the company said today. Pretax operating profit in North America increased to $2.33 billion, a record for any quarter since 2000, when Ford began tracking the region as a separate business unit from $1.55 billion a year earlier. The pretax loss in Europe widened to $468 million from $306 million in the third quarter of 2011.
“The Ford team delivered a best-ever third quarter, driven by record results in North America and the continued strength of Ford Credit,” CEO Alan Mulally said in a statement. “While we are facing near-term challenges in Europe, we are fully committed to transforming our business in Europe.” Total global revenue was $32.1 billion, down from $33.1 billion a year earlier. Last year’s net of $1.65 billion was Ford’s second-highest quarterly profit ever.
