Worst Year for Ford

Ford on Thursday had the worst year in its 103-year history with a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and said it would cut production this quarter and lose market share through September. The No. 2 US carmaker posted a fourth-quarter net loss of almost US$5.8 billion (£2.9 billion), or US$3.05 per share, on declining lorry sales and charges for employee buyouts. That compared to a loss of US$74 million, or 4 cents per share, a year ago. 
Ford's loss from continuing operations was US$1.10 a share, wider than the average Wall Street analyst expectation for a loss of 94 cents, according to Reuters Estimates. 
For the full year, Ford posted a record loss of US$12.7 billion, leaping past the company's previous record net loss of US$7.39 billion in 1992 when the industry was reeling from a recession in the US economy. 
Ford, like its Detroit-based rivals, was hit hard in 2006 as high gas prices and interest rates drove consumers away from the trucks and sport utility vehicles that had accounted for most of its sales and profits.




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