Ford Successful Even Without Cash for Clunkers

When the government officially closed the Cash for Clunkers programme, most of the US automakers registered massive drops in their local sales, with consumers less interested in buying new cars without cash incentives. But Ford, the only US-based large manufacturer that managed to survive even without state aid, would have survived even with the CARS scheme, CEO Alan Mulally said in a statement for Autonews.

“It was a good stimulus,” he said. “But the real strength of the third quarter is based on the strength of our product line improving. The reason that we were cautious on 2010 is that we are assessing, like everybody is, what is the strength of the recovery in the near term."

In a statement rolled out today, Ford revealed a surprising $1 billion net income for the third quarter of 2009. Ford posted a $30.9 billion Q3 revenue, down $800 million from the same period in 2008.

“Our third quarter results clearly show that Ford is making tremendous progress despite the prolonged slump in the global economy,” Alan Mulally, Ford CEO said in a release. “Our solid product lineup is leading the way in all markets. While we still face a challenging road ahead, our One Ford transformation plan is working and our underlying business continues to grow stronger.”

“The Ford team delivered another solid quarter of results with strong contributions from all our business regions,” Lewis Booth, Ford CFO concluded. “Positive cash flow, a stronger balance sheet and a third quarter operating profit are evidence that Ford is meeting the global economic challenges.”