Recently, Ford Motor Company released its financial report for the third quarter of this year. Ford's revenue for Q3 was $46.2 billion, higher than the $41.9 billion estimated by Bloomberg. This figure is lower than Ford's revenue of $47.8 billion in the previous quarter but represents a 5% increase compared to the $43.8 billion in revenue for the same period last year.
Ford has lowered its full-year profit outlook and now expects the adjusted EBIT for 2024 to be "around $10 billion," which is at the lower end of the previously estimated range of "$10 billion to $12 billion." Ford's stock price closed nearly 9% down on Tuesday.
As part of its Ford+ plan, Ford divides its business into three segments: Ford Blue, which is responsible for traditional gasoline-powered vehicles; Ford Model e, which is responsible for the electric vehicle division; and Ford Pro, which is responsible for its commercial and truck businesses. The specific performance of Ford's three business segments in the third quarter is as follows:
• Ford Blue: Revenue of $26.2 billion, EBIT of $1.627 billion
• Ford Pro: Revenue of $15.7 billion, EBIT of $1.814 billion
• Ford Model e: Revenue of $1.2 billion, EBIT of -$1.224 billion
Specifically:
The traditional fuel vehicle division, Ford Blue, saw its revenue increase by 3% to $26.2 billion in the third quarter, despite a 2% decline in global wholesale volume due to the discontinuation of low-profit fuel passenger vehicles. Notably, Ford's global sales of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) increased by 30% in the quarter, and the company's hybrid mix is still on track to approach 9% by the end of the year, up more than 2 percentage points year-over-year, with more products on the way. Ford commanded 77% of the U.S. hybrid truck market during the quarter, with hybrid truck sales up 42% in Q3.
The commercial and truck division, Ford Pro, reported revenue of $15.7 billion for the third quarter, a 13% increase from the same period last year, with an EBIT of $1.8 billion and a profit margin of 11.6%. This was mainly due to the fresh product lineup and strong market demand for Super Duty trucks and Transit vans.
The electric vehicle division, Ford Model e, reported an EBIT loss of $1.2 billion in the third quarter, with electric vehicles still facing downward price pressure. However, the division has achieved almost $1 billion in cost improvements year-to-date. In terms of recharging infrastructure, Ford offers customers greater access to charging both on the road and at home through the Ford Power Promise.
In the first three quarters of this year, Ford's total sales of electric vehicles reached 67,689 units, a year-over-year increase of 45%, ranking second only to Tesla in the U.S. electric vehicle market. Among them, the cumulative sales of Mustang Mach-E for the first three quarters were 35,626 units, a year-over-year increase of 23.4%; the sales of electric F-150 Lightning for the first three quarters were 22,807 units, a year-over-year increase of 86%; and the best-selling electric van, E-Transit, sold 9,256 units in the first three quarters, a year-over-year increase of 67.4%.
At the call with news media, Ford's Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, John Lawler, cited "supplier disruptions" as the reason for the decline in sales at Ford Pro and Ford Blue, which was due to the impact of hurricanes in the southern United States.
Ford now expects its electric vehicle division, Model e, to have a full-year loss of about $5 billion, slightly lower than the previously forecasted $5.5 billion. Ford stated that this is mainly due to improvements in the locations and methods the company uses to produce batteries. Ford made some adjustments in its electrification strategy in late August and planned to lower the proportion of its annual capital expenditure to pure electric vehicles from about 40% to 30%.
