Ford Announce Record Profits for 2015

Ford has posted profits for 2015 as the US carmaker capitalised on last year's car sale rise.

Ford brought in a full year pre-tax profit of $10.8bn ($7.5bn). Its net income for the year rose to $7.4bn up from $6.1bn in 2014. The growth came as car sales in the US reached the highest level in 2015.

Ford’s European division return to profit for the first time since 2011 - and posted its best ever profit results for the Asian-Pacific region.

In Europe, Ford brought in an operating profit of $259m, compared with a loss of $598m in 2014. The company has taken steps to cut cost in Europe, closing several plants in the last few years.

Mark Fields, Ford President and CEO announced - “We promised a breakthrough year in 2015, and we delivered. In 2016, we will continue to build on our strengths and accelerate our pace of progress even further, while transforming Ford into both an auto and a mobility company and creating value for all of our stakeholders.”

Bob Shanks, Executive Vice President and CFO had this to say - “We delivered improvements in 2015 on every single driver of value in our business – growth, returns, risk, and rewards. We look forward to 2016 and strengthening the value proposition at Ford even further.”

Profit-sharing for Ford workers

Last year's results will mean a record profit-sharing check of $9,300 for each of Ford's 53,000 U.S. hourly workers.

North America drove Ford's results, with a pretax profit of $9.3 billion. But Ford also achieved its highest-ever pretax profit of $765 million in its Asia Pacific region and returned to profitability in Europe for the first time since 2011. South America remained weak, but Shanks noted that even in that volatile region, Ford managed to command higher prices.

6.5 million vehicles sold worldwide

Ford's revenue rose 4 per cent to $149.6 billion for the year, also beating forecasts. Global sales rose 5 per cent to 6.6 million for the year.

Ford launched 16 vehicles worldwide last year, down from 24 the year before. New products, like the three-row Edge SUV, helped it achieve record sales of 1.1 million in China. Fourth-quarter net profit more than doubled to $1.9 billion. After one-time items, Ford earned 58 cents per share for the quarter, beating Wall Street's forecast of 50 cents. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 12 per cent to $40.3 billion, also beating analysts' expectations.