Ford's Profits Drop in Q3

DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. reported net income of $835 million in the third quarter, a drop of about 34 percent from earnings of $1.27 billion in the year-ago period, reported MLive.

Pre-tax profit fell to $1.2 billion in the third quarter of 2014 from $2.6 billion in the comparable quarter last year. Ford said in an earnings release Friday the pre-tax profit decline is due to lower volume, higher warranty costs and adverse balance sheet exchange effects.

Wholesale volumes were 3 down percent year-over-year in the quarter. Ford's revenue slid 2 percent to $34.9 billion in the period.

The overall declines were expected, as Ford rolls out a slew of new global product launches, not the least of which includes the 2015 Ford F-150.

"During the third quarter, we continued to introduce an unprecedented number of new vehicles and invest heavily in the new products and technologies that will deliver strong profitable growth beginning next year," Mark Fields, president and CEO, says in the earnings release. "We also addressed business challenges head-on using our proven One Ford plan. Everyone at Ford remains focused on accelerating our pace of progress, while delivering product excellence and innovation in every part of our business."

Ford's pre-tax profit outlook of $6 billion for the year remains unchanged.