Mulally said that Ford's profits showed the benefits of not taking on US government aid [EPA]
Mulally said that Ford's profits showed the benefits of not taking on US government aid [EPA]
The profits earned by the US' second-biggest vehicle-maker, which were announced on Monday, contrast with its $161m loss in the third quarter of 2008.
Ford, the car company, has made an unexpected net profit of $997m in the third quarter and has announced that it will become "solidly profitable" by 2011 and end its run of losses.
"Our third-quarter results clearly show Ford is making tremendous progress despite the prolonged economic slump," Alan Mulally, Ford's chief executive officer, said.
"While we still face a challenging road ahead, our transformation is working and our underlying business continues to grow stronger."
The third-quarter net profit, which equates to 26 cents per share, was a surprise to most analysts, who had predicted that Ford would report a 12 cent per share loss.
Production boost
The company increased its market share in North America, Europe and South America while cutting back its operating costs by $4.6bn in the first nine months of the year.
While its rivals, General Motors and Chrysler, took billions of taxpayers' dollars to weather the worst of the US economic crisis, Ford did not file for bankruptcy protection or government funding.
"The advantages [of foregoing government aid] clearly outweigh any potential disadvantages," Mulally said in a conference call with analysts and reporters.
Mulally said that Ford's third-quarter profits were due to improvements that the company had made to their products.
But the firm has cut thousand of jobs in an attempt to remain afloat since its losses began to accumulate in 2005. Ford now employs about 65,000 workers in the US - about 44 per cent fewer than the company employed in 2004.
Ford announced that it wants to boost production in the fourth quarter in response to strong demand.
Mulally said that the company was set to meet or exceed all of its financial targets and predicted that it could post at least an operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Alan Mulally, CEO of FordThe US automobile manufacturer Ford has said that it posted a net profit of US$997 million in the third quarter of this year, and predicted that it would be "solidly profitable" by 2011. The reports surprised most analysts, who had forecast that the auto company would lose money.

Ford's profits equate to 26 cents per share, a large difference to the 12 cent per share lost that had been anticipated by most economic analysts.

"Our third-quarter results clearly show Ford is making tremendous progress despite the prolonged economic slump," said the firm's chief executive officer, Alan Mulally. "While we still face a challenging road ahead, our transformation is working and our underlying business continues to grow stronger."

Mulally predicted that his company would meet or even surpass all of its financial targets, and suggested that the fourth quarter of this year could see it post an operating profit.