Ford reports quarterly loss, but says sales have grown

Ford Motor said it lost $526 million in the last three months of 2023, mainly due to special charges related to its employee benefit programs and the reorganization of some of its foreign operations.

The automaker said fourth-quarter sales rose to $46 billion from $44 billion a year earlier, thanks to strong sales of internal combustion vehicles and light commercial vehicles.

The company's division that makes gasoline and hybrid vehicles earned $813 million (excluding interest and taxes) in the fourth quarter, and its commercial vehicle division earned $1.8 billion. The unit that makes electric vehicles lost $1.6 billion.

Looking ahead, Ford said it expects to generate between $10 billion and $12 billion in adjusted earnings before taxes and interest this year.

Ford reported a profit of $4.3 billion in 2023, compared to a loss of $2 billion in 2022. Sales in 2023 rose to $176 billion, compared to $158 billion in 2022.

The company said it wanted to improve its financial performance by investing less in certain areas, such as electric vehicles, while setting higher profit targets for the projects it was still putting money into. “Just 'good' is not good enough and the investments will require projects that have credible plans to achieve their targeted returns,” Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said in a statement.