Ford posted net profits of 997 million dollars for the third quarter of 2009. It's the automakers’ first quarterly profit since 2008 and is largely due to a drastic cost-cutting policy. The US firm said it was on track to become "solidly profitable."
Ford reported a 17 percent increase in monthly US sales for August, in part brought about by the success of the US government's "cash for clunkers" trade-in scheme.
Ford has posted a 2.26 billion dollars profit for the second quarter, compared to an 8.7 billion dollar loss in the same period a year ago. The US automaker has beaten Wall Street expectations.
Automakers welcomed a 28 percent drop in US auto sales in June as a sign that the badly hit industry was stabilising, with Ford's sixth straight month of share gains making it the clear winner.
Ford, the number two US carmaker, says it wants to cut the number of its parts suppliers by close to half by the end of the year. Ford is the only major car manufacturer to have avoided bankruptcy in the current crisis.
The US Energy Department says it will give close to 8 billion dollars in loans to Ford and Japanese rival Nissan to encourage the development of fuel-efficient vehicles.
US automaker Ford posted losses of $1.4 billion dollars for the first quarter. Unlike GM and Chrysler, the group has not asked for public funds and hopes that restructuring measures will help to achieve "break-even or better" results by 2011.
This week's Shanghai's motor show will see crisis-hit US carmakers General Motors and Ford battle Chinese manufacturers for sales on the Chinese market, which has been the world's largest for three months now.
